Uther: The Lightbringer?
by NilioJ13
Summary: What if Uther had personally gone to Northrend to stop Arthas from chasing Mal'Ganis. AU (Why isn't Uther a character option for Warcraft?)
1. The Culling of Stratholme

-AN-

_This will at first follow Warcraft: The Frozen Throne (to an extent), but at the key moment will begin to deviate more severely, with some links to the actual story for personal preference and story progression, enjoy._

The Culling of Stratholme.

As he rode up the hill towards the proud city walls, flanked by his fellow Knights of The Silver Hand, Uther couldn't understand why he had been summoned to the city at all, there was no stench of death, no signs of decay that there had been at Andorhal, or the other pockets of the undead plague that he had encountered, but knew that if the plague took Stratholme, the consequences were unthinkable, and the loss of innocent life would be felt across the kingdom. He reached the crest of the hill and saw Prince Arthas and Jaina Proudmore standing in front of a small group of soldiers, they seemed to be waiting for his arrival, the soldiers stood at attention as Uther and his knights dismounted, Uther took the lead of the group as they approached the young prince who had called for their aid, but the prince's mood didn't seem to improve upon seeing his mentor arrive to aid him with some backup, which concerned the elderly paladin slightly, usually Arthas was glad to have him supporting him, something was clearly wrong.

"Glad you could make it, Uther" the boy almost spat at him, indignation dripping from his tone, "Watch your tone with me boy. You may be the prince, but I'm still your superior as a paladin!" he quickly responded, but it didn't seem to daunt the prince in the slightest, as if he had been expecting such a reply from the paladin. "As if I could forget. Listen, Uther, there's something about the plague you should know…" Arthas continued, the trio then walked up to the crest of the hill, able to see the grand entrance to the city, Uther saw nothing out of the ordinary with the city, but was horrified by the information that Arthas had told him on their short walk. Arthas froze at the sight before him, a small stack of empty grain boxes lying by the gate.

"Oh no. We're too late. These people have all been infected! They may look fine now but it's just a matter of time before they turn into the undead!" Arthas almost shouted out, catching Uther and Jaina off-guard, Jaina understood, Uther not as easily, he now knew of the plague being carried by the Andorhal grain, but couldn't see how it was already too late, "What?" he blurted out without hesitation, there was now an uncomfortable silence before Arthas spoke again, no hint of emotion in his voice, "This entire city must be purged." Uther and Jaina could not believe their ears, "How can you even consider that?" Uther asked the prince's heartless decree, "There's got to be some other way."

"Damn it, Uther! As your future king, I order you to purge this city!" Arthas ordered at the chief paladin, Uther knew in his heart that the prince was not thinking clearly and knew he would never carry out such a barbaric order. "You are not my king yet, boy!" he yelled back with a savage ferocity, now standing face to face with the arrogant upstart prince, his eyes ablaze with fury, "Nor would I obey that command even if you were!" he finished, now backing away from the boy. "Then I must consider this an act of treason." Arthas said coolly, this caught Uther off-guard, how could Arthas be so desperate to turn on his allies.

"Treason? Have you lost your mind, Arthas?" He said in a bewildered fury, "Have I?" Arthas replied calmly, "Lord Uther, by my right of succession and the sovereignty of my crown, I hereby relieve you of your command and suspend your paladins from service." This blow struck Uther in the heart; Arthas had gone too far with this order, "Arthas! You can't just…" Jaina started but was interrupted by the prince, "It's done! Those of you who have the will to save this land, follow me! The rest of you get out of my sight!" Uther's knights departed at this order, clearly they shared Uther's rationale that this 'purge' was wrong, "You've just crossed a terrible threshold, Arthas."

Uther turned and walked away, back down the hill, Jaina followed closely behind, "Jaina?" Arthas said in a voice that almost sounded innocent, Uther knew the two were smitten with each other, but would never admit it, but he was glad that this secret love didn't stop Jaina from seeing sense, "I'm sorry, Arthas. I can't watch you do this." She replied, continuing to follow Uther away from Arthas and the seemingly condemned city of Stratholme. The two heroes parted not long after, neither saying a word, as Jaina headed for Quel'Lithien and Uther for Light's Hope Chapel with his knights.

It was only when the distant sounds of battle; blood-curdling screams inaudible yelling had faded that Uther decided he should return, to not only see the destruction reaped by the prince, but also to try and save any stragglers before they were caught and killed for no righteous or just reason. As he rode up the hill towards the city for the second time that day, the scene could not have been more different before him, bodies were piled high in the streets, buildings were either on fire or burnt to their ashen frames, and a few soldiers seemed to be prowling the streets for survivors, Uther approached them cautiously, "Lord Uther, what brings you back to this forsaken city?" one said when he noticed Uther approaching them.

"I have returned to bring reason back to this madness, you are to stop all attacks on the survivors, they can be saved from the plague if we act now, belay the prince's mad order, see reason" he said imploringly, the soldiers looked at each other, torn between their humanity and the orders given by the prince, "surely you know this 'purge' is not right, surely you feel guilty for all the innocent lives lost today, either rescue those still alive, or leave and atone for your sins" he preached, the soldiers didn't hesitate and left the city, as they did, several citizens appeared from amongst the ruins.

"Thank you Lord Uther, when we heard Arthas and that demon slaughtering people we hid" one of them said, shaking Uther's hand warmly, "it is my duty to defend the innocent, how many others have survived?" he said, returning their warm greeting. They looked at each other before one answered, "We don't know, all we heard and saw was death and destruction, what would compel the prince to do such a thing?" Uther sighed wearily, "I don't know, he wants to save his kingdom from the plague, but doesn't seem to realise that he is crippling it with this abominable act of shear madness."

"What do we do now milord?" one of the group asked after at least a minute of uncomfortable silence, "find any other survivors, and make for the safety of Light's Hope, and as for the dead, there's nothing else that can be done, pile them up and burn them, it's more honourable and kind than leaving them to rot where they fell" Uther said with a heavy heart. The citizens nodded solemnly and separated, heading in different directions to either flee the city or help with what little relief effort could be provided for the still-burning city, leaving Uther to wander the burning streets, looking at the skeletal buildings, lifeless corpses and wade through the pools of human blood, none of the corpses he passed showed any signs of infection, nor could he see any grain boxes or bags from Andorhal, the slaughter was completely unjustified.

Amongst the graveyard city, Uther saw a familiar figure, standing alone in an empty square, near the heart of the city, "Jaina! Jaina Proudmoore!" he yelled as he ran over to the young magi, she turned, seemingly surprised to see him again, "Lord Uther?" she said quizzically as he reached her, but he was in no upbeat mood, but tried to hide it, "Ah, Jaina, I thought I might find you here." But his tone soon shifted and his concern began to break through, "Where has he gone, girl? Where has Arthas taken the fleet?"

"He came to me before he left, I pleaded with him not to go, I told him it sounded like a trap!" she said in near desperation, Uther's impatience burst out with one word, "Where?" She sighed heavily as she responded, clearly deciding it best not to defend Arthas after the atrocity he had committed. "Northrend. He's gone to Northrend to hunt Mal'Ganis." Uther's mind instantly began to work out a plan of action, but his frustration made him curse before he had formulated a plan, "Damn that boy!" he exclaimed loudly, this outburst appeared to catch Jaina off-guard.

"I've got to inform King Terenas" he quickly followed his outburst with, noting the upset look on her face he tried to cheer her up, "Don't be too hard on yourself, girl. You had nothing to do with this… slaughter." She smiled weakly before they took another moment to look over the ruins of the once proud city, from the small town square they were still stood in. After several minutes had passed, Uther ran back the way he had come leaving Jaina alone in the square, he had to get to Lordaeron quickly in order to stop Arthas sooner rather than later, as he rounded a corner from the square where Jaina continued to stand looking over the scene, Uther spotted an unusually large bird swooping down, he naturally assumed it to be a carrion bird, coming to feast on the corpses, and continued on his way.


	2. A Cold Reception

A Cold Reception.

It took Uther just over a day to get back to Lordaeron, having to deal with a few almost insignificant Orc incursions to deal with on his ride back to the capital, once there he was greeted warmly by the people as he quickly crossed the small city square, across the drawbridge and into the king's throne room, where Terenas greeted him with his usual warmth and kindness, "Lord Uther, my old friend, what brings you back to the capital so quickly" he said smiling warmly, Uther initially returned the smile but it quickly faded, "I need to speak with you about your son and the plague, there's been a development or two since last we spoke" he said hurriedly. The king nodded his understanding and gestured to a small chamber adjacent to the throne room, the two entered quickly and closed the door, Terenas' guards moved to stand just outside the door for security, but allowed the two to have the necessary privacy, "which matter do you wish to talk about first Uther?" Terenas asked, taking a seat against the wall, Uther sat opposite and took a deep breath, before repeating almost everything Arthas had said a few days ago, along with his own experiences of the plague, whilst the king listened intently.

"and that the demon was moving on Stratholme in order to exterminate the population." Uther finished after telling him everything about the recent history of the plague, up to his arrival at Stratholme, "this is most disturbing, but I take it from you being here, my son managed to stop this Mal'Ganis and save the great city of Stratholme from the plague" Terenas said, a glint of hope in his eye, Uther felt a twinge inside him, he didn't want to tell the next part of the story, but he had to be honest with his old friend and king, "not exactly my king, Arthas…" Uther was interrupted by Terenas' stern interjection, "what has my son done now that has displeased you?" It was no secret that Arthas and Uther had not always seen eye to eye, and Terenas was used to either one of them complaining about the other, but this time Uther knew it was drastically different, "I know the boy wanted to save his kingdom from the plague, but he crossed the line at Stratholme, he went too far" Uther said slowly, Terenas seemed shaken just by these words, "tell me! What has he done?" he said with failing courage, "I'm sorry my king, but Arthas ordered Stratholme to be purged of all life, to stop the spread of the plague" Uther said, standing and moving to comfort his old friend, Terenas began to shake slightly, whether with rage or distress, Uther could not tell, but the king's next words gave valuable insight, the king seemed angry, "why didn't you stop him, why didn't you make him see sense?" the king said looking into Uther's eyes with a building rage.

"I tried" Uther began, uncertain of the king's reaction, "but the boy accused be of treason, and relieved me of my authority and disbanded the Knights of the Silver Hand because I refused to follow that order, Jaina also refused to help the boy, but it didn't stop him, the city now lies burning, most of its citizens lie dead in the streets, the rest have either fled or stayed to try and rebuild the city" Uther's words tumbled out, desperately trying to regain the king's trust in him, which he found in spades, as Terenas hugged him close, and as they parted he spoke again. "I'm glad you didn't temper or aid his monstrous act, and I am also pleased to hear that miss Proudmoore also saw sense" he stated smiling widely, but the smile faded with his next sentence, "but the tragedy of this event pains me deeply, we must make Arthas pay for this barbaric crime, where is he now?" Uther let out another heavy sigh, "he's taken a small regiment of loyal soldiers and the fleet to Northrend, hoping to catch Mal'Ganis, if I might be so bold, you should order the fleet, the troops and the prince to return to Lordaeron as soon as possible."

Terenas pondered for a moment before looking into Uther's eyes, "alright old friend, I shall order, by royal edict, that this expedition is to be recalled and all those partaking must return to Lordaeron immediately, I shall send an envoy at once, I…" Uther quickly cut in, "what if I deliver the order personally, someone of my position should be able to convince the troops to return home, and maybe even be able to persuade Arthas to stop this mad hunt." Terenas didn't consider this proposition for very long, "of course" he said beaming, "you're my son's mentor, friend and superior, he should listen to you know, go at once Lord Uther, do not return until you have succeeded in bringing my son home along with the men under his command" Terenas continued, Uther nodded, and bidding farewell to the king, left the city, deciding it best to use a zeppelin as the fastest means of reaching Northrend.

The zeppelin ride was long, uncomfortable and lonely for the war hero paladin, he spent most of the time meditating as best he could on a small balcony at the rear of the zeppelin, and the crew were decent enough to leave Uther in peace during the trip. When he heard a call from above of "land ho", he stood up, looking back across the endless ocean at the way they had come before walking calmly through the small lower levels and on to the deck, to see Northrend for the first time, rapidly coming towards them on the horizon, and it seemed a bleak and lifeless frozen hell to Uther upon his first sighting. As the zeppelin moved west along the southern coast of the largely mythical landmass, Uther's view changed little, seeing mostly snow covered hills, mountains, trees and icebergs, with little break in the solid white colour that covered everything, and the cold wind that blasted the rather frail zeppelin was filled with an unnatural harsh bitter edge, that could have torn flesh from bone, saved by the fact that the paladin and the crew were well covered against the weather's onslaught.

When one of the crew spotted the sails of Arthas' fleet, the zeppelin began to lower its altitude, Uther saw the ships were nestled in a small cove, and completely abandoned and unguarded, as this revelation washed over him, another crew member yelled that he sighted smoke to the north, the zeppelin turned sharply heading due north towards the plume of smoke, slowly getting closer and closer to the ground with more and more undead being visible in the area between the coast and the camp, until a small fortified encampment came into view, protected on its north by a large mountain range, and a thick wood to the south, Uther ordered the navigator to land inside the camp, begrudgingly he complied. When he stepped off the zeppelin, and stood on Northrend soil for the first time, he felt his connection to the light falter, as if something was actively blocking it, but his faith and hope remained strong, as he walked over to a group of soldiers who were standing around the very fire that the zeppelin had followed to find them, the soldiers were evidentially surprised to see him.

"I apologize, milord, but the prince is away on an errand. What brings someone of your standing to this desolate place?" the captain asked him, bowing slightly as Uther stood before him. "I have come to bring you boys home, by royal edict you to return at once to Lordaeron, the king has recalled this expedition." Uther said boldly, the soldiers looked at each other confused; the captain turned back to Uther and stated, "We're to just pick up and leave?" Uther stared at the captain for a moment, the two looking into each other's eyes, before the captain understood, "yes milord, we shall return to our ships at once, what of Prince Arthas and Muradin?"

As the captain asked, he signalled the soldiers standing nearing him, who dispersed to gather the other soldiers at the base, "I'll deal with Arthas later, what is Muradin Bronzebeard doing here?" Uther asked, knowing of the Bronzebeard's reputation, and not hearing of any expedition involving him recently. "I don't know the exact details, but his expedition were looking for some relic hidden in the wastes, and were ambushed by the undead shortly before we arrived, now we're hunting Mal'Ganis and looking for the relic in the meantime." The captain gave an uncertain look through the eye slits on his helmet, before turning to see the soldiers lining up in formation before Uther.

"I saw on my flight in that the roads between here and the shore are held by the undead, we'll have fight our way back to the ships" as he was speaking he motioned for the zeppelin to leave, a crew member nodded and moments later it rose into the sky and was soon gone, one soldier plucked up to ask the obvious question, "why not use the zeppelin sir?" Uther let out a jovial laugh, "because that zeppelin ride here was one of the dullest, most hellish experiences I've ever had, not fighting anything that is" the soldiers let out a courteous laugh. Though Uther could tell they wanted off Northrend as soon as possible, and if he was honest with himself, he did as well.

Uther unsheathed his hammer, and charged out the southern gate, the soldiers following quickly behind, with only a few stragglers deciding not to betray the prince by leaving the camp. As Uther lead the majority of the soldiers down the path to the coast, and just as he had noted earlier, there were numerous undead patrolling the path, but they were quickly destroyed by him without even breaking his stride. It took almost two hours to reach their ships, when they got there they encountered Arthas, Muradin and several men who must have been mercenaries moving on the ships with lit torches, Uther ran over to the torch-wielding mercenary who was nearest to the ships and knocked him out with the butt of his mace, before standing between the other mercs and the ships, "don't even think about it boys, you're outmatched" he shouted, threatening the mercenaries who promptly stopped advancing.

Arthas and Muradin rushed to the front of the mercenaries and Arthas stood toe to toe with Uther, "what are you doing here, you were relieved of service" Arthas spat at his former mentor, Uther smiled, a hint of cruelty etched into his grin, "your father reinstated me and ordered you and your men home." Arthas snarled, "I'm afraid that's not going to happen Uther, we need to take out Mal'Ganis to end the threat of the plague, I'm not leaving until he is dead," the former friends stared at each other, Muradin looking at them remaining silent, the mercenaries and soldiers facing each other flanking the leader they supported, weapons drawn. The tense silence was finally broken by Muradin, "plus, me and m'boys came to recover Frostmourne, I'd quite to have this disaster ridden expedition end in success" Uther looked at the dwarf, seeing the determination in his eyes, he let out a resentful sigh and sheathed his mace, the soldiers, mercs and Arthas followed suit, "back to base then, you mercenaries can join if you wish, otherwise get the hell away from here or prepare to die" Uther said, staring intently at the mercenaries flanking Arthas, who promptly ran with their tails between their legs.


	3. Frostmourne Calls

Frostmourne Calls.

The trio lead the soldiers back to the base camp, who were rather deflated at the prospect of staying in the cold environment for an extended amount of time, a few volunteered to stay behind and guard the boats, in case the mercenaries tried to get some form of revenge by attacking the ships. Once they got back to base, Muradin sprinted to the river to relieve himself, and Arthas and Uther walked in silence to the command building that had been finished. When Muradin entered the command building he found Uther and Arthas arguing, "… you don't need to be here!" Arthas yelled at Uther as the dwarf entered, Uther didn't try to sink to Arthas' level with the insults the prince had been using before Muradin had re-joined them, but he needed to put the upstart in his place, "from what I saw at Stratholme, yes I do need to be here, and what exactly was your plan regarding those mercenaries and the ships?"

Arthas didn't answer, but Muradin did, "the boy was planning on burning the ships before the men could reach them, preventing you from leaving so he can hunt Mal'Ganis" he blurted out, Arthas glared at the snitch, and Uther glared at him, "first you cull Stratholme and sack me, now you try to entrap the men just for this feud, are you deranged boy?" Muradin joined Uther in glaring at the boy who didn't recoil under the joint stare, "you didn't tell me you killed your own people. What's happening to you, Arthas? Is vengeance all that's important to you?" Muradin asked, stunned by the facts presented by Uther, Arthas snorted, "Spare me, Muradin." His voice was then tinged with his underlying anger, "You weren't there to see what Mal'Ganis did to my homeland."

Uther could see how desperately the boy was in trying to justify his actions, "but I was" he said quickly, "I saw the defeated pockets of undead, I saw how the plague was starting to be put under control after you killed that necromancer" he said smiling warmly at the boy, but it was wiped away by his next sentence, "I also saw a city turned into hell itself, and thousands of innocent people slain or hiding in terror of the prince they thought had come to save them, the plagued grain was newly arrived, the pockets of it were evident even in the burning remains, you didn't need to cull the entire city." The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence, before a scout ran in and shattered it, "milords, I have news on Mal'Ganis" Arthas seemed to cheer up, "where is he?" he asked cheerfully, like a hunter who had trapped his prey.

"He's been spotted in several different places, with no discernible pattern and no sign of a base of operations…" Uther quickly cut in, "sounds like he's trying to bait you into the open, don't give him the satisfaction." Arthas flashed him a look of annoyance before returning his view to the scout, "anything else?" Before the scout could reply a cry rang out from outside, and the sounds of hurried movement in the camp, the trio pushed past the scout and outside to see the camp surrounded by undead, at the northern entrance stood the dread lord in question, Arthas snarled and ran to the barricade, Uther and Muradin following close behind.

"The Dark Lord said you would come. This is where your journey ends, boy." He boasted, Arthas unsheathed his mace, Uther and Muradin moved to restrain him if he made a move, "Trapped and freezing at the roof of the world, with only death to sing the tale of your doom." The demon promptly vanished and the undead began to move in on the camp, "This looks bad" Muradin said down heartened, "we're completely surrounded." Arthas seemed to have a glint in his eye, "There's still one chance. Help me claim Frostmourne!" Uther and Muradin looked at him with raised eyebrows, "If it's as powerful as you said, it might tilt the scales in our favour!" he continued, clearly trying to instil enthusiasm in the two wizened warriors.

"If such a weapon exists it should be handled carefully, and with great responsibility for any repercussions that may ensue" Uther said, unsure about his plan, Muradin seemed to share his uncertainty, "I have a bad feeling about this, lad. But I promised I'd see this through." The trio made their way to the captain, who seemed shaken by the oncoming undead horde, "Captain, I'll leave you to organize our defence. Let's move out." Arthas said to him, "all three of you are going, we could sure use at least one of you to bolster our morale and our chances of winning" the captain said shaking in the cold, Uther put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "the light will ensure you hold out until we return, do not lose heart." Uther patted his shoulder as the trio mounted up and rode directly north, through a hole in the undead line.

Muradin and his ram lead the way, only breaking the silence they rode in when he was indicating the direction they were heading in, eventually reaching a small hole in the side of a shear mountain cliff, which was too small for their mounts to enter, so they dismounted, tied the horses and ram to a nearby skeletal tree and entered the dark cave. They were immediately greeted by an elemental guardian who appeared from the darkness before them, "Turn back, mortals. Death and darkness are all that await you in this forsaken vault, Arthas moved in front of the other two to draw level with the guardian, "I doubt there's anything down here more terrifying than what we've faced already." He boasted to the unperturbed elemental figure, "believe what you will, boy. You shall not pass!"

With that the spirit swung its sword at the prince who ducked out of its path, within seconds of this action Uther and Muradin had their weapons drawn and had engaged the guardian in combat, with Arthas moving quickly in to join them. The trio proved to be more than a match for the guardian and two smaller spirits that appeared to defend it, as it was about to die it spoke again, "Turn away…before its. Too late" it said with a raspy breath, Arthas took a step closer to the dying elemental, "still trying to protect the sword, are you?" he jibbed, the reply from the guardian worried Uther, "No… trying to protect you… from it."

With that the being exploded into its base element and disappeared, Uther lead them further into the cave, using his mace as a torch, eventually they found what they had come for in a large cavern at the back of the cave, "Behold our salvation, Frostmourne" Arthas said moving closer to the sword that was encased in ice. "Steady Arthas, don't be so quick to jump on this opportunity, even the best intentions can have devastating consequences" Uther said slowly as Muradin got in front of the boy, examining the sword in its icy confinement, Arthas tried to take another step closer but Muradin stopped him.

"Hold, lad" the dwarf said slowly, staring at the sword, "There's an inscription on the dais." He took a moment to translate it in his mind, "what does it say?" Uther asked, he couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off, "It's a warning" Muradin replied almost immediately, "it says '_Whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit_.'" Uther drew his weapon as Muradin said what he had realised, "Oh, I should have known. The blade is cursed! Let's get the hell out of here!" Muradin turned to leave as Uther and Arthas closed in on the sword for different reasons, "then we must destroy it!" Uther said raising his mace to smash the sword and the ice it was held in, but Arthas stopped him.

"No, I would gladly bear any curse to save my homeland." Arthas said, turning his head to look at the blade, "Leave it be, Arthas. Forget this business and lead your men home." Muradin said, managing to make eye contact with the prince, Arthas' face bore a snarl as he turned fully to face it. "Damn the men! Nothing shall prevent me from having my revenge, old friend. Not even you." Uther spun Arthas around to face him, "no boy, listen to reason, remember what I once told you, 'if we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, we shall become as vile as the Orcs' or the very being you want to kill" he said, desperately trying to verbally connect with the prince, but to no avail, he turned back to the sword, "I call out to the spirits of this place. I will give anything or pay any price, if only you will help me save my people." Uther drew level with him as a blinding flash and a loud explosion enveloped them.

When Uther regained his vision he saw Muradin sprawled on the ground, either dead or unconscious, leaving he and Arthas standing, with Frostmourne, now free of its confines, standing vertically between them. Without hesitation Arthas dropped his mace and moved to grab the blade, Uther smacked his hand away but Arthas moved in with his other hand. Uther didn't think and also reached for the pommel with his free hand. When his fingers went to close around the leather grip, there was a flash of energy that emanated from him, his vision went dark and there was a thud from somewhwere, he couldn't tell if it was his own, or Arthas', but more worryingly there was a fourth presence in the cavern, an ancient evil that was focused on him.


	4. Lightbringer Vs Deathbringer

Lightbringer Versus Deathbringer.

_-AN- _

_From here onward it's an alternate universe, with some ties to the canon, the voice of the Lich King will be in hyphened italics, and Uther's thoughts in just italics._

_i.e.:_ Thoughts = -_I am the Lich King, lord of the Scourge_**-**¸ and his speech = "-Damn you boy-"

_Arthas' PoV._

Arthas opened his eyes slowly, his vision was blurry and could only make out the rough forms of Muradin still lying on the cave floor, and Uther standing by the pedestal where Frostmourne had been incarcerated, but as his vision sharpened he saw Uther wielding both his hammer and Frostmourne, he tried to stand but his entire body ached. "I'm sorry Arthas, but I had to stop you from making a grave mistake" Uther said, his voice shaky, "what mistake, Frostmourne is my only hope to save our homeland from the..." Arthas replied, using the cave wall to help him stand, Uther shook his head.

"No, the sword is a part of the real commander of the undead scourge, his essence was imbued in the blade, when I grasped the hilt his dark essence merged with my light soul, causing the shockwave that knocked you out, I can hear his voice in my head, he planned for you to take the sword, and fall under his control completely, and bring death and destruction to Lordaeron." "You lie!" Arthas yelled back, finally managing to stand on his own feet, "no boy, his voice in my head told me so, he's furious with me ruining his plans, swearing revenge" Uther said, his voice still shaking, as he was clearly in the middle of an internal war.

_Uther's PoV._

**_-_**_You stupid, meddlesome old man__**-**_ a voice shouted in Uther's mind, _who are you? _He thought, there was a laugh from the voice, _-I am the Lich King, Lord of the Scourge, once called Ner'Zhul, and by wielding Frostmourne, you have meddled in things beyond your comprehension.-_ Uther was confused by the voice's remark, _What? How have I meddled? _He replied to the mysterious voice_. -The prince was destined to wield Frostmourne and bring death and destruction to Azeroth in my name, a plan that was centuries in the making, and you foiled it with you touching the hilt before he could, no matter though, you will suffice-._ At this moment Arthas stirred.

"I'm sorry Arthas, but I had to stop you from making a grave mistake" Uther said, his voice shaky, "what mistake, Frostmourne is my only hope to save our homeland from the..." Arthas replied, using the cave wall to help him stand, Uther shook his head as Ner'Zhul's voice laughed at the back of his mind. "No, the sword is a part of the real commander of the undead scourge, his essence was imbued in the blade, when I grasped the hilt his dark essence merged with my pure soul, causing the shockwave that knocked you out, I can hear his voice in my head, he planned for you to take the sword, and fall under his control completely, and bring death and destruction to Lordaeron." "You lie!" Arthas yelled back, finally managing to stand on his own feet, "no boy, his voice in my head told me so, he's furious with me ruining his plans, swearing revenge" Uther said, his voice still shaking, as he was clearly in the middle of an internal war.

_-You will submit, and obey me-_ Ner'Zhul raged at Uther, who was desperately trying to mentally cage the voice and its influence that was spreading like the infection it was, _-I have sent word to my followers, they will decimate your army unless you yield to me, I… argh, what are you doing? -_ Uther focused his command of the light and focused it into restraining the presence. "Not if I stop them, Arthas!" Uther yelled out loud, catching the prince off-guard, "grab Muradin, we've got to return to base, the Lich King has ordered the undead to slaughter our forces" he said quickly, sheathing Frostmourne on his back, along with his hammer, "what about you, are you alright?" Arthas asked, as he bent down and slung the weighty dwarf over his shoulder, Uther looked into the prince's eyes, he knew that Arthas could read the psychological turmoil he was in.

"I understand, we'll get you help once the undead are defeated" Arthas said, running out of the cave ahead of him, -_you will fall, the boy will fulfil his destiny, and your kingdom will pay the price for your defiance- _the voice whispered in his mind, the mental cage preventing it from yelling at him, and to an extent stopped the spread of its influence. As they rode back, Muradin slumped over his ram that was being tugged along by Arthas, Uther could feel the prince looking at him, he knew that the boy was worried for him deep down, but another part of him knew that he still believed Frostmourne would be able to save his kingdom if he wielded it.

When they reached the base camp they found it heavily outmanned, with the undead closing in on the survivors from all sides, Uther jumped from his stead, unsheathing both Frostmourne and his mace and using them in cutting down the undead ranks, who backed off at the presence of Frostmourne, Arthas quickly joined him, Muradin's ram scurried into the main building in the camp with its still unconscious master. The undead quickly focused their numbers on Uther and Arthas, who were managing to cut down every single undead that attacked them, however the sheer numbers overwhelmed Arthas and Uther looked on in despair as the prince was surrounded and separated from him, "Nooo!" he yelled and without thinking plunged Frostmourne into the ground, a gold and black shockwave shot outward from the blade, knocking the undead out of its path, and off Arthas.

_-Felt good didn't it, channelling my undead power- _the voice taunted, _-submit and wield that power eternal-_ it whispered provocatively, Uther's emotions were constantly shifting, and soon anger overwhelmed him as he resumed destroying the undead numbers, as he cut through more and more undead, his moves became increasingly more savage. Eventually the undead moved into a withdrawal from the camp, the surviving soldiers rallied to Uther and Arthas, and Muradin scurried from the main building, armed and ready for battle, his disappointment was clearly etched on his face, "curses, I missed the action" he grumbled, sheathing his maces, Arthas was tending to the injured, leaving Uther standing alone, but not alone in his mind.

_-You cannot defeat death, you may have a temporary victory now, but soon more will come and slaughter your people, submit and you can save them- _the voice yelled at his conscious mind, Uther's attempts to cage it had failed, and now the two were in control of a majority of his mind. There was a crack like a lightning strike, announcing the appearance of Mal'Ganis in the heart of the camp, in front of Arthas, "greetings young prince" the demon said bowing slightly, "the dark lord was right about you, you will be a great servant of… wait, why aren't you wielding Frostmourne?" Arthas smirked, "seems I didn't need it to defeat the undead" the prince mocked, Mal'Ganis clenched his fist and raised it at the prince, clearly threatening him, "you will wield Frostmourne, it is your destiny, wait…"

Uther could tell that the demon was receiving a message from the Lich King, Uther moved quickly, withdrawing Frostmourne to strike, "the dark lord tells me that Frostmourne has been claimed by… argh" his speech was interrupted by Uther thrusting Frostmourne through his heart, "by one who will not bend to his will demon filth" Uther said, mocking him and finishing his sentence. Mal'Ganis screeched in pain and exploded in a dark cloud, the dust settling on the ground leaving a black mark, _-No, How dare you kill my lieutenant. You will suffer for your continued defiance.- _Uther didn't realise until the voice had faded that he had fallen on to his hands and knees, Arthas and Muradin ran over to him, "you alright laddie?" Muradin asked him, he shook his head sombrely, "I think I should explain what you missed Muradin, but I need to return to Lordaeron."

Arthas helped Uther stand up, and the trio rallied the surviving troops to them, "alright men" Uther said stoically, "with Mal'Ganis dead, the threat to Lordaeron is finished, we can all return ho…argh" his bold announcement was interrupted by the voice bellowing at his conscious mind, _-I WILL ENSURE THAT YOUR PRECIOUS KINGDOM BURNS, ALL YOUR PEOPLE ARE REBORN AS MINIONS OF THE SCOURGE, AND YOU, WILL, SUBMIT!-_ Despite the interruption, the soldiers got the gist of what their lord was trying to say and cheered, many hurrying to pack their stuff up, and be gone quicker. Arthas and Muradin dismissed the troops as the strain on his mind made Uther collapse and slip into unconsciousness.

When Uther opened his eyes he found himself in a blank white endless space, he stood up and saw himself standing in front of him, dressed in dull grey armour, decorated with skulls and motifs of death, and just wielding Frostmourne, he reasoned that this was a representation of the Lich King.

_"-Your defences are crumbling before my will; soon you will wield Frostmourne as a commander of the scourge-"_

The undead version of Uther said slowly, his voice was echoing the voice of the Lich King and his own. Uther drew level with this dark representation of himself, the space changed, his side remained white, but the Lich King's side was bathed in black, the divide split perfectly between them.

"What are you supposed to be?" he asked the image, which smiled cruelly.

"_-I am Uther the Deathbringer, I am what you will become if you submit, I am more powerful than you and cannot be defeated by the likes of you, Lightbringer.-"_

"Where am I?" Uther asked without realising where his mind was going, the so-called Deathbringer chuckled,

"_-This is your mind, a simple representation of the war that rages in your mind, between light and dark, so-called good and perceived evil, as it stands we are at a stalemate for control, but it will not last.-_"

Uther now laughed at the confidence of his nemesis, "you are so confident that I will crumble, that I will submit to your will, you're overconfidence…" The Deathbringer's face turned into one of unnatural anger as he raised Frostmourne and pointed it at Uther's neck, _"-I am not overconfident, I know you WILL fall, all fall before the Lich King, I have enslaved minds far stronger than yours, I know you will do my will eventually, its only a matter of time.-_" Uther smiled confidentially, "I doubt that will happen, I will persevere and find a way to banish you from my mind or destroy you." The last thing Uther saw of the strange vision was his nemesis laughing as the vision faded, and he opened his eyes to Arthas and Muradin looking down at him.


	5. A Bloody Compromise

A Bloody Compromise.

For the entire boat journey back to Lordaeron, Uther confined himself to the cargo hold, away from the soldiers, Muradin and Arthas, seeking isolation to focus on his current predicament. _–I will make sure you deliver the entire land of Lordaeron into the command of the Scourge, and raise it to reap death to the rest of Azeroth, we…- _The Lich's rant was interrupted by Uther, "I know you seek to destroy thousands for your twisted ambition, but does it have to be Lordaeron?"

There was a chuckle from the voice,_-You're defiance is falling, you're righteous ways are yielding to my less so means, what are you proposing 'Lightbringer'?- _"you didn't answer the question, does it have to be Lordaeron?" Uther said aloud to the quiet cargo hold, the door barricaded by him as a means of protecting others from the dark presence in his mind. _–My minions had a foothold before you and the boy destroyed them, and your meddling in my plan made my vengeance personal, Lordaeron will suffer for your meddling.- _it whispered coldly. "I seek a compromise, I wish to protect my homeland, but since I see no means of separating our consciouses, we need to find a middle ground, a solution that fits both our desires" Uther began, the voice remained silent, evidentially listening transfixed to what he would say.

Uther stood up, taking Frostmourne from his back and rested it against a box on the port side, followed it by placing his mace on the starboard side opposite the cursed blade, then pushed aside the boxes covering the door. He opened the door and yelled up the stairs, "get me Muradin, Arthas and a detailed map of the Eastern Kingdom continent, moments later the two summoned figures and the map were brought into the cargo hold, "thank you for coming, Arthas don't bother touching Frostmourne or your soul will be torn from your body, please take a seat" he said sitting between his two weapons.

"What is the matter Uther?" Muradin asked as the prince laid out the map between them and Uther, the three men leaning in to talk, "The Lich King, that's what the voice in my head calls itself," Uther began, trying to explain his situation to his old friends, "was that the essence in the blade?" Muradin asked, nodding towards the sword that seemed to be watching them. "Yes, well he, it seeks to eradicate life from Azeroth on a large scale, and unless we find an alternative, Lordaeron will suffer his wrath, so I need suggestions for an alternative target." Uther's voice was etched with pain and solemnity; the two comrades stared at him dumbfounded.

"You're talking 'bout eradicating thousands of people, almost committing genocide, just to sate this evil, have you lost your mind?" Muradin asked, almost yelling his disgust at the top of his voice, something in Uther snapped, making him yell in reply, "Do you not think I realise what this means, the cost that's at stake! Do you not think I have tried to think of another way, another option that didn't cost so much, but there is no other option open to me, no other path I can take, his incessant whispering in the back of my mind is making it hard for me to find less barbaric solutions, so yes I am aware, and I am losing my mind, for your information."

The two resumed their dumbfounded stare, "as I was saying" Uther said softly after he calmed himself down, "We need to find an alternative, that's why I've asked you here, and why I asked for a map of the Eastern Kingdoms, is there anywhere that could suffice?" Arthas looked down at the map, hie eyes skimming over its entirety before looking back at Uther and shrugging, but Muradin's eyes seemed to lock on to the middle region of the continent. "I have several areas that could suffice, areas that if cleared would greatly benefit both out people" he said, a sinister edge to his voice, the Lich's chuckle echoed in Uther's mind, _-He has a determination that I like, why didn't he claim Frostmourne- _

"Please tell us, but be careful, it's taking a liking to your cruelty" Uther said sternly to the overeager dwarf, who shrank back slightly, before speaking, "Well, before I left, we were having trouble with the Dark Iron dwarves, they were encroaching on our land, they are based here" He pointed at the largest mountain between Ironforge and Stormwind, "there's also movement to the north of Ironforge here" Muradin pointed at a plateau in the mountains to the north east of Ironforge. "Grim Batol?" Uther exclaimed, Muradin nodded solemnly, "scouts had reported increased activity there, Blackrock Orcs and corrupted red dragonkin with a few black dragonkin, are crawling around the Wetlands, also encroaching on Bronzebeard territory."

"Are there any other Blackrock Orc holdouts?" Arthas asked, now Muradin shrugged, "when we get to Lordaeron, I'd recommend after you update Terenas that you accompany me to Ironforge, if you're interested in helping the dwarves" Arthas quickly stood up, "I'll go check on our progress" he said, and promptly left the hold. "he still thinks that he should wield Frostmourne" Uther said slowly, "I saw his eyes studying the blade, studying me" Muradin simply nodded his agreement and understanding, "aye, the lad wants to do what's best, but doesn't seem to take grasp of the consequences for his actions."

"Stratholme will be a monument to that, you should have seen it, a grand city burned to its bones, and citizens slain where they lived, all because he sought to protect his homeland, I don't think Terenas will let his own son get away with such butchery" Uther said, _-It was glorious, a large population decimated by his own hand…- _"Silence!" Uther yelled out loud, Muradin looked at him with utter confusion, "sorry, it is trying to break me." Uther explained to the confused dwarf, who now looked concerned. "Have you seriously thought of every possibility for healing your mind?" he asked carefully, Uther's initial response was to shake his head, but something about the dwarf's phrasing gave him an idea.

"No I hadn't, but you gave me an idea for how I might save my sanity, I shall explain more when we return to Lordaeron, but I think it should help my cause." Uther said smiling warmly for the first time since he had bonded with the runeblade. The rest of the boat journey home was made with Uther isolated in the cargo hold, with Arthas and Muradin making sure he was comfortable and left alone without interruption, the Lich remained silent for the journey, biding his time, as he had done for centuries and it was only when land was in sight that he surfaced from the hold.

"How do you think my father will react to your predicament?" Arthas asked as the three heroes rode back to the capital, ahead of the column of soldiers marching behind, Muradin chuckled, "I dunno lad, but I think you should be more concerned about your own fate." Arthas gulped, "how much does he know about Stratholme?" he asked nervously, Uther remained silent, forcing Muradin to answer. "Well lad, I don't know what Uther told him, but it's been over a week, plenty of time for the king to learn of the full aftermath of your butchery, and that's what it is, you butchered hundreds for no reason, don't expect to get off lightly because you are the prince," that outburst made the rest of the long ride home quiet and slightly uncomfortable.

As they marched through Brill, people were at first surprised to see them, but when they saw the number of soldiers marching behind, they flooded out of the houses and cheered the returning heroes, Uther smiled at the sight, but the voice whispered foul things in his mind, cutting short his cheerful mood. The soldiers disbanded in the courtyard in front of the royal approach, where the trio bid them a fond farewell, before crossing the drawbridge and into the throne room, where Terenas was eagerly waiting for them on his throne, "Welcome home Lord Uther, my son, and welcome back to civilisation Muradin Bronzebeard, I hope the danger has passed, there are matters to attend to" the final sentence was edged with something unfriendly, as Terenas glanced at his son, who visibly wilted under his view.

"Well Arthas' crime is not the only thing we must deal with Terenas," Muradin said, he tilted his head toward Uther, diverting the king's gaze, "what is the matter with Uther?" Terenas asked, looking over his greatest paladin with a worried gaze, Uther sighed heavily and unsheathed Frostmourne from his back, and displayed it to Terenas, who recoiled at the sight of it. The aged king listened intently as the three retold the events since Uther had last updated the king, the voice continually whispered in Uther's mind, trying to discern what he was planning. Once they explained that Uther's mind was now plagued with the consciousness of the evil behind the plague, Terenas collapsed on to his throne with the shock.

"What are you proposing to do to rid yourself of this evil?" Terenas asked, his eyes staring straight through Uther, "-You're going to kill thousands to save your precious kingdom from my wrath, the so-called Lightbringer knows it's his only hope till he can try and rid himself of me-" Uther said, though his voice was deeper and echoed of death, the other three stared in disbelief at him, Uther shook his head before speaking in his normal voice. "Sorry, I let him get the upper hand there, but he's right, unless we find another target, he'll destroy Lordaeron." Muradin spoke up moments later, trying to dispel the uncomfortable feeling that was descending upon them, "I suggested Grim Batol or the Dark Iron stronghold under the Searing Gorge, Arthas recommended focusing on the last Orc holdouts, do you have any suggestions my liege?"

Terenas smiled slightly and reached down to a small stack of papers beside his throne, picking up the top letter and quickly reading it, "well it so happens that I have received a call for reinforcements from Stormwind, seems there's a stronghold of Orcs near Blackrock Mountain, on the northern edge of what is now called Burning Steppes, I think it might be close to this Dark Iron stronghold, it would be an ideal target." Uther let out a deep, echoing laugh, "-You all act so righteous, so noble, but when pressured, you become as barbaric as 'foes' like me, these strongholds will suffice." The Lich was quickly banished back to a corner of Uther's mind, "seems like we have a plan, Muradin, we'll leave for Ironforge in a week's time, that'll give you time to get there and gather what reinforcements you think we'll need" Uther said placing a hand on the dwarf's shoulder.

Muradin nodded his agreement and quickly bowed to Terenas and left the throne room, Arthas took a step closer to Uther, "I'll join you Uther, I…" Terenas also stepped closer and interrupted, "oh no my son, you will stay here, you must be held accountable for the massacre at Stratholme, Uther, you will have a small contingent of our finest go with you, I'm not letting you go alone." Uther smiled as Arthas shrank slightly, "thank you my liege, but I have something I must attend to alone before I set off for Ironforge, something that may help with coping with the Lich King's presence in my mind" Uther said turning and leaving the throne room quickly, leaving the father and son, Terenas showed little sympathy as he ordered the guards to arrest his son and imprison him until he was trialled for his crime.


	6. Lord Uther and Lady Sylvanas

Lord Uther and Lady Sylvanas.

Uther wasted no time in hurrying off again, after the talk with the king, he jogged back out to his trusty stead, mounted it and rode east, not letting his mind focus on his plan in any great detail, and not giving the Lich any hint of what may or may not happen to it. _–What hope do you have to stop my control over you, I grow stronger the longer you fight me- _it whispered in his mind, as he rode quickly through the ghost town that had been Andorhal. "I don't need to stop your control, I want to limit it, and let me have more control over my own body",he said out loud as a reply, this seemed to silence the Lich for the time being.

As he reached Corin's Crossing, the sight of plumes of smoke to the North West reminded him of the atrocious act he had been witness to, it had been a week and the smell of the burning corpses hung heavy in the air. But he didn't linger on the issue, and now rode north with increased haste, refusing to rest until he reached his destination. When he reached the northern edge of the plagued lands, he was greeted by a group of lightly armed elves guarding the mountain pass; the leader seemed to be a slender female elf, with long blonde hair tied back in an elegant pony tail.

"State your name and intent!" she said sternly, raising her bow and aiming it at Uther's face, "ladies first" Uther said confidentially, "I am Sylvanas Windrunner, ranger of Silvermoon, and since your city was destroyed we have been instructed to guard Quel'Thalas from potential threats, so I say again, state your name and intent." Uther tried to keep the mood light, though the Lich was screaming at him to kill the wench. "Madame Windrunner, I am familiar with your name, your reputation precedes you, as it does for me, I am Lord Uther of Lordaeron, and paladin of The Silver Hand, often called Uther the Lightbringer, my business I am unable to discuss at the moment, but I need to see your leader, it is of the utmost importance."

The huntress pulled the arrow back further, now aiming at Uther's throat, "I have also heard of you, your heroism is known in Silvermoon, but if you have business with Prince Sunstrider, then you must relinquish your arms and we will escort you to the city gates" Sylvanas said, her voice etched with her severity. Uther sighed and dismounted from his horse, one of Sylvanas' fellow rangers took the horse's reign and took it to one side, whilst Uther handed over his mace, but hesitated when Sylvanas hinted for him to hand over his other weapon.

"And the sword, I'm not in any mood to be toyed with, lord," she said, still with her bow trained on his throat, he unsheathed Frostmourne and the elves recoiled, "what is that thing?" one of them exclaimed, Uther sighed, weighing the runeblade in his gloved hands, "an ancient evil, I'm afraid I can't part with it, its essence is bonded with my soul, its complicated, but please trust me, I mean your people no harm." Sylvanas relaxed her bow, and rested it over her left shoulder, "you dare to bring a cursed blade into Quel'Thalas, and claim to mean no harm, do you take me for an idiot? Give me the blade." Sylvanas spat at Uther, reaching out to take the sword from his hands.

The next moments were a blur of activity, Sylvanas' hands closed on the pommel and the blade, but something in Uther shifted and his hands moved, the blade slicing across her chest in a sudden, fluid motion, drawing blood and a cry of pain, and she collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest, trying to stem the bleeding, whilst the other elves unleashed their ferocity and pummelled Uther to the ground with their sword hilts, he dropped Frostmourne and was knocked out, the last things he heard were the cries of pain from Sylvanas, and the cackling laughter of the Lich in his head.

When he woke his hands were bound behind him, his body stripped of his armour, and he was lying on the floor of a jail cell, two guards watching him closely, one of whom had greeted him at the pass, "what.. Where am I?" he said slowly, rubbing his aching head where he had been knocked out. One of the elves smirked cruelly, "you're in Silvermoon City milord, but not with Prince Sunstrider, you're in jail for attacking ranger Windrunner, do you have anything to say?" Uther was stunned, "what? No. I didn't attack her, I was cooperating, it attacked her, not me, can I see her?" he blurted out, the Lich just chuckled in the back of his mind, "no you may not see her, the healers are trying to tend to her wound" the elf said, enjoying the power he had over Uther, "and 'it' attacked her, what attacked her if it wasn't you?" Uther sighed heavily; he knew his situation was tricky to explain.

"the essence that was in the blade, that bound with me when I grasped it for the first time, it's a dark, ancient evil being that is now bound to me, it attacked her" he said slowly, the elves burst into laughter, "the voice in your head attacked her, what a load of…" one of them started saying, mocking him, but Sylvanas walked in, chest piece bore the gash across it, with the bloodied bandages visible underneath. "He's not lying" she said, resting against the bars of his cell, the elves looked at her sceptically, "how do you know?" her former companion asked, she sighed heavily and rubbed her temple, "because that voice, is now in my head, its faint but it's there, care to explain Uther?" she said, turning to look at him, he hesitated but the Lich explained it for him.

"-Well my dear-"he said slowly, his voice now echoey and deeper, "-when this old fool first took up Frostmourne, it tore his soul from his body and its now held in the blade, and the same happened to you when I slashed across your chest.-" The guards unsheathed their swords and pointed them at Uther through the bars, he instinctively backed away, "you brought a cursed blade into our borders, attacked a ranger without cause, and mortally wounded her with aforementioned blade, what are you planning to do to Prince Sunstrider?" Uther held his hands out in both surrender and defensively, "I came in peace, I seek healing to try and contain the Lich's presence in my mind, I am actively trying to stop things like what I did from happening, and I am sorry Sylvanas, I didn't intend for this to happen."

"I'll escort him to Kael'thas," Sylvanas said quickly, "I'll take his arms and armour, if he tries anything I'll snap his neck" she added, seeing the elves uncertainty and slowly placing his belongings in a sack she withdrew from her back. "Don't touch the blade itself!" Uther said quickly as Sylvanas reached for Frostmourne, she looked behind at him, and carefully placed Frostmourne in the sack by its pommel with a gloved hand. As she slung the sack over her back and unsheathed a dagger and held it in her hand, the guards let him out of the cell, Sylvanas moved in front of Uther and pointed the dagger at him, "do we have an understanding?" she asked, the dagger pointed at his heart, he nodded and walked calmly towards the door.

The two walked out of the prison in silence, but as they walked out of the building, on to the street, Sylvanas started a conversation about the curse they now shared, "what do you know about the Lich King?" she asked; her voice low so people didn't overhear. "I know that it commands the undead plague that was unleashed on Lordaeron, that I wasn't the intended person to wield Frostmourne, and that it wants me to kill thousands of people in the southern continent or he'll destroy Lordaeron" Uther replied, summing up his knowledge of the Lich. "What about its origins, its weaknesses and how we rid its voice from our minds?" she pressed him for more information, he shrugged, "early on I managed to temporarily cage it with my power of the light, but it didn't last long, I don't know its origins, and I only have an idea for weakening his hold over my mind, not for ridding us of its presence, if there is a way, it isn't going to tell us."

She sighed with disappointment, "then I hope your plan works, here we are, I'll go first" her last statement was coupled with her signalling for the royal guard to watch him, as she entered the royal chamber, he subconsciously watched the sway of her hips as she walked, but shook himself out of his fascination. She returned moments later, though she was no longer carrying the sack of his belongings, she signalled to the guards who forced him to walk into the chamber, with their spears poking him in the back. Despite the hostile treatment, Kael'thas greeted him warmly, "welcome Lord Uther, to Silvermoon City, I hope you understand why we have treated you so badly, you did attack and wound ranger Windrunner here" the prince said greeting him with little affection.

Uther bowed slightly before standing up straight, "I understand completely your highness, I would be a little less hostile and brutal were I in your position" he joked, Kael'thas didn't share the joke, "if you were in my position, I would be in yours, and I wouldn't have attacked ranger Windrunner in the first place, so this meeting would be a more cordial and formal." The silence that descended was thick and uncomfortable, Sylvanas stepped forward, "Prince Kael'thas, from what he has told me, and from my own experiences, Lord Uther has come to us seeking healing, for a terrible affliction that now plagues me as well, if I might be so bold, I think the Sunwell could help cure his affliction" she said bowing before the prince.

Kael'thas stared intently at Uther, "you think we should take a potentially hostile human, with a seemingly contagious affliction, use the Sunwell? Did your injury claim your sanity?" the prince yelled at the ranger who recoiled at his verbal assault. "Prince Sunstrider, what afflicts me and Sylvanas is not contagious unless you are mortally wounded by the runeblade, I have no intention of spreading it to anyone else, and I fear that unless I get help soon, every race on Azeroth will pay the price." The prince stared at Uther with a mixture of rage and disbelief, "I do not believe a word either of you say, nothing you say will convince me otherwise, you will not go anywhere near the Sunwell at Quel'Danas" he spat at Sylvanas and Uther, who was lost for words until an unlikely intervention aided their plight.

"-Why not hear it from me then-" the Lich said in its echoey voice from Uther's mouth, Kael'thas recoiled slightly in shock, "-I am the affliction they suffer from, and I am more dangerous than the old man, and the longer I am in your city, the more likely it will suffer like Stratholme-" there was a pause as Uther regained control of his body, "I'm sorry prince Kael'thas, but unless we do something, that being will take full control of Lord Uther, and death will come to every race on Azeroth," Sylvanas said approaching the throne, "I implore you, let us try to help him, if nothing else it will improve relations with the Alliance." Kael'thas pondered this for a moment before nodding his approval, then quickly walking away without saying goodbye.

A guard came over and took the cuffs off Uther, he rubbed his wrists when they were free, "well, I think it's safe to say that even the elves aren't perfect" he said jokily to Sylvanas who retrieved the sack from another guard and tipped the contents out in front of him. "Get dressed, the sooner you're healed, the sooner I can return to my duties as Ranger of Silvermoon" she said, no hint of joy in her voice, _-she can never return to her normal life, she is eternally cursed, she will have to serve us now, not the irritating, idiotic, imbecile of a 'prince'- _the Lich whispered in his head, Uther was about to tell her, but she raised a hand to stop him, "I know, I heard its boast as well, I guess it's just wishful thinking" her depression about her situation was clear, he quickly donned his armour and sheathed his weapons, before embracing her in a warm hug.

-AN-

_I felt I had to include Sylvanas Windrunner because she is such a tragic character, making her a perfect addition to this story._


	7. Quel'Danas

Quel'Danas.

The remaining hours Uther spent in Silvermoon were highly unpleasant, clearly word had gotten out about what he had done, and why he was in the city, because the elves did their utmost to avoid him and Sylvanas, even the crew of the boat that they were forced to take to Quel'Danas avoided them.

"Another day, another uncomfortable boat ride" he groaned as the boat tilted to one side, his hands gripping the balustrade tightly.

"Would you have preferred to fly milord?" she said to him, a hint of reassurance, but he let out another long groan,

"I'd rather swim if it meant a more pleasant journey to our destination." She simply hummed her agreement as she shot a look to the captain at the wheel, who had been watching them closely.

"How are you?" Uther asked after a long pause,

"Fine, why do you ask?" she replied curtly, confused by his asking.

"I know that what it made me do has ruined your life, I wish I had kept control of my body, and that this whole business had not happened" he stated, his fingers taping just below the gash in her armour, she moved her hand to his, and pressed his hand against her chest over her heart, their eyes connected when she knew he felt what he had done to her.

"Your heart!" he blurted out, moving his hand away quickly in shock, she nodded gravely.

"It's beating slower than normal, since it happened." She said, a tear welling in her eye, which Uther gently wiped away.

"I'm so sorry; I hope the Sunwell can help both of us regain some normality" he said placing his hand flat over her heart, she watched carefully, though she was starting to trust the elderly knight, she was a ranger first, and letting your guard down with the presence of the Lich King could prove fatal. He muttered a prayer under his breath, and when he stopped, Sylvanas felt a surge of warmth spread across her body from where his hand rested.

"What did you do to me?" she asked as he rested his arms at his side.

"A small prayer of healing, though it isn't strong enough to undo the cursed blade's damage, it has, in essence, breathed life back into you." She put her hand to her heart and felt her heart beating at a steadier pace.

"Thank you" she breathed quickly, joy filling her heart.

"_-it won't last my dear-_"the Lich rasped at her, she recoiled slightly, and Uther's body tensed slightly as he fought to regain control.

"The sooner we reach Quel'Danas, the sooner we can get that monster under control; I'll check our prog…" Sylvanas said, brimming with hatred at the Lich's outburst, was interrupted by the navigator announcing "Land ho."

"Well, that's perfect, let me be the first to say…" Sylvanas said standing between Uther and the bow of the ship, "welcome to Quel'Danas, sanctuary of the Sunwell" she said bowing slightly and gesturing toward the rapidly approaching land mass, which glowed on the horizon like a second sun.

The sight of the Sunwell on the horizon sparked a violent shift in Uther; the Lich's presence in his mind shrank back, screaming its frustration _–Damn that Elven magic, I'll destroy their entire civilisation for this-_

"I think it's affecting him slightly" Sylvanas said aloud, Uther nodded in agreement as the boat docked in the harbour, and the two were forced to step off the boat first by the crew.

"I'll let you lead the way, it's your homeland, and you're in charge." Uther said politely gesturing for her to take the lead; she smiled warmly but instead of leading, took his hand in her own.

"This may be my homeland, but I do not know the isle of the Sunwell that well, we may need assistance." She said looking around at the magi elves that were minding their own business around them, but flashing uncertain looks at the wounded ranger and the elderly paladin carrying an unholy relic.

"Is it screaming obscenities in your head as well about the power of the Sunwell affecting him?" Sylvanas asked as they headed towards the largest building they could see.

"No, it's being disturbingly quiet for me." Uther replied as an elderly looking elf approached them at the building's entrance.

"Greetings, welcome to Quel'Danas Lord Uther and Ranger Windrunner, we were warned about your intentions, please follow me." He said, quickly ushering them inside, the two visitors looked at each other quickly, expressing their uncertainty.

"Are your intentions to help or hinder us?" Uther asked the elf, who kept his distance from them as he lead them through the luxuriously decorated building, the elf just chuckled nervously and lead them into a small antechamber.

"Please remove your armour and weapons please, we cannot allow you to be so heavily armed from this point on." The elf ordered, though his manner was straining to remain polite, but Uther and Sylvanas complied and removed their weaponry and rested them in a corner, before taking off their own armour. Once they were only wearing their undergarments, a group of armed mages entered and escorted through the door opposite the one they had come through.

They were lead into a vast, domed indoor courtyard at the centre of the building; at the center was a large glowing pedestal, surrounded by elves channelling the magical energy through them, but the sheer power of the magical energy from the Sunwell was present in the room, even someone as powerful as Uther felt dwarfed by its power.

"You will be cleansed one at a time, lady Windrunner first, please follow me," the elderly elf said, taking Sylvanas by the hand towards the circle of channelers, the other magi raised their swords and held Uther back, in his head the Lich King's rants were faint, but still present, this gave him hope. Uther watched as Sylvanas was lead to the circle of channelers, where she alone walked into the channeler's circle and was enveloped by the light.

When it faded, she inspected herself closely, the gash across her chest had faded to a thin scar, and she seemed alive than before, but before she could do anything else she collapsed, a group of magi rushed over and carried her away.

"What happened?" Uther asked the elderly magi that had returned to stand near him, who simply smiled at him.

"That often happens; the force of magical energy from the Sunwell can often overwhelm those who are not accustomed to its power, now please follow me" with that he led Uther, flanked by the armed mages, towards the pedestal, the Lich faint screams of protest echoing in his head.

When he reached the edge of the pedestal, the guards moved to positions just behind each of the channelers, the elderly magi looked intently at him.

"Please don't try anything, we are placing our trust in you, we hope that you have the same success that lady Windrunner did, but we will attack you if you try to corrupt our blessed Sunwell, now please, enter the circle" he stated to Uther who nodded his understanding, but the Lich's screams were making it hard to concentrate on anything but its voice.

The moment Uther stepped on the pedestal the light enveloped him, he felt the channelers focusing the energy that surrounded him on his body, its power coursing through him with ease, he felt himself lift off the ground and his own power over the light increasing. Just as he thought the energy would help him control the Lich, he heard its screaming 'no' before his body emitted another shock wave of light and dark energy, as the two forces collided inside him, the moment the shock wave left his body he blacked out just like he had the last time.

-AN-

_Will Uther have full control over his body again? Will the Lich King go down without a fight? Will he and Sylvanas be free of his maddening voice?_

_Find out soon!_


	8. In Deep Trouble

In Deep Trouble.

Uther woke to a scene of chaos, the pedestal he was lying on was surrounded by elves sprawled across the courtyard, the pedestal itself was now only glowing faintly, he could feel the Sunwell's power faintly, it was still present, but significantly weakened. He stood up slowly, his whole body ached with every move, when he stood upright, he could see the full extent of the chaos before him.

"This is going to be difficult to explain to the prince" he muttered to himself, at that moment the main doors into the courtyard burst the prince himself flanked by his royal guard, his eyes blazed with fury.

"What have you done 'Lightbringer'?" he yelled at Uther as he closed the gap, looking at the Sunwell's faint glow, and the strewn elves around it.

"It's still active, I can feel it, but the energy needed to cleanse me, it's temporarily weakened." Uther said, his hands rose as a barrier between himself and the furious prince.

"Are you cleansed? Or have you almost destroyed our font of energy for nothing" Kael'thas bellowed at him, his guards now surrounding him with their spears pointing at his throat, Uther raised his hands above his hands in surrender, and knelt down, he didn't want to fight them.

_-Oh no you don't- _a whisper said, and before Uther could warn them, his body emitted a shockwave of holy energy, catapulting Kael'thas and his guards outwards from him, to join the other elves unconscious on the ground.

-Get the girl and get to the dwarf, I'm not letting you deny me any longer- it whispered, not yelling at him like it used to, he didn't decide to hang around and ran through the door he had come through, quickly donning his armour and weapons, once dressed, he walked calmly through the facility looking for Sylvanas, guided by the Lich's voice. When he opened the door to the room she was in, she was dressed and waiting for him.

"I know, his voice is whispering in my mind still" she said when he entered and looked at her with a slight look of confusion.

"Then you should also know the trouble we are in, let's get out of here NOW!" Uther replied, his voice elevated when cries of alarm could be heard in the distance, he grabbed her hand and together they ran for the exit as guards swarmed on them from behind. They sprinted for the boat but found it guarded, they skidded to a halt and Sylvanas whistled, two silver Dragonhawks soared over and Uther followed her lead and mounted one of them, she took the lead as the pair soared into the sky on the backs of the Dragonhawks.

"I don't understand" Sylvanas yelled as she brought her Dragonhawk closer and level with Uther's, "I thought you said it would rid us of its influence, why is it still whispering to me?" she was clearly distraught that it hadn't worked like she hoped it would.

"It has limited his influence, he's no longer shouting in my head, and he hasn't used me to speak, I think the energy from the Sunwell has merely caged it, we're still cursed though, I'm sorry it wasn't what you were expecting, though I don't think they'll welcome you back with open arms whilst Kael'thas is in charge." Uther said, Sylvanas pointed due south and the two headed that way.

"If I wasn't bound to you, I'd kill you in a heartbeat for this nightmare you've put me in!" she yelled at him, venting her anger, but as they flew over Silversong Wood, Sylvanas' Dragonhawk was hit by an arrow, killing it instantly, Sylvanas elegantly jumped on to Uther's, sitting in front of him and taking the reins, which forced him to cling his arms around her waist as she made their Dragonhawk dive and bank to avoid being hit by the arrows being fired at them from the wood below.

"Are they trying to kill or capture us?" he asked her as the mountain range between their lands approached.

"Depends, did you attack the prince or did you just run?" she asked, as they quickly dived towards the mountain pass.

"It attacked them, not sure how, and I ran" he replied timidly, she sighed, as she brought the hawk into land.

"Then they'll want to capture then kill you." She said bluntly, he whistled and his trusty horse appeared from behind a nearby tree and trotted over, Uther took the reins as Sylvanas leapt on behind, and they rode south as fast as they could into Lordaeron.

They rode until they reached Corin's Crossing, where they stayed for the night, sleeping in separate rooms as there was still tension between them over what had happened at the Sunwell, the Lich also remained quiet. The following day they set off early, crossing the Thondroril River and then south through Andorhal, Sylvanas was horrified by the ruined town, Uther managed to reassure her whilst keeping them moving.

"Such loss, such death, and it was responsible?" she breathed as they crossed the southern bridge out of the town, turning east into Alterac Valley, Sylvanas held on to him tightly as they navigated the mountain paths at speed.

"We're approaching the edge of Alliance territory, from there it's a short ride to Ironforge and the Dwarven kingdom in Dun Morogh, I roughly know the way, but I haven't journeyed that far south since the Second War against the Orcs. Those were dark days, and some events of that war still haunt me." His emotions were evident in his tone to Sylvanas, who was fascinated by the war.

"I remember when the war reached Quel'Thalas, the Amani trolls ran rampant in the Silversong Woods, but me and my sister managed to contain the threat, I only heard tales of what the main part of the war entailed, care to tell me tales from it, might make this journey go quicker." She asked the paladin, who smiled warmly, "of course my dear, where do I begin…" For the remainder of the journey through Hilsbrad Foothills and Arathi Highlands, Sylvanas listened intently to his tales of the largest war seen by the Eastern Kingdoms.

When they reached the Thandol Span, Uther had covered all of the key moments of the war that he had been personally involved with, Sylvanas had listened to every single tale like a child listening to a bedtime story.

"We have company" Uther muttered to Sylvanas, as they slowed down on the bridge, she peered over his shoulder and growled, on the other end of the bridge, a column of dark skinned dwarves were marching toward the bridge, a cart of explosives being pulled behind them.

"Looks like they want trouble." She said dismounting elegantly and drawing her bow, Uther unsheathed his mace and marched his horse toward them, who stopped when they saw him, Sylvanas darted behind a pillar, waiting for Uther to start the fight.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?" Uther asked the lead dwarf, who seemed enraged by his presence.

"I could ask you the same question old man, we are on a mission of great importance to Emperor Thaurissan, we will not be stopped by a lone old man with a hammer, stand aside" the dwarf ordered, his manner angered both Uther and the Lich.

_-Kill him, kill them, then kill all their dark-skinned brethren, especially this so-called emperor- _it whispered in his mind, he dismounted gracefully and unsheathed Frostmourne with his other hand, the dwarves seemed to be struck still by the sight of it.

"I'd tell you to return to where you came from now or you will regret it for eternity, but you're too thick to see sense, so instead I'll say, prepare to die!" With that insult Uther moved with a unnatural speed as he used both weapons to jump over the lead dwarf and kill his squad of soldiers in mere minutes, leaving the leader alone, Sylvanas walked up behind him and aimed an arrow at the base of his skull.

"Please don't kill me, I won't cause any trouble I swear, I'll return to the emperor and tell him not to mess with the Bronzebeards, I promise!" the dwarf pleaded with Uther, not realising Sylvanas' presence behind him.

"I'd like to believe you, but I know you'll twist the truth and make your emperor declare a full scale war against the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer dwarves, so instead I'll do this." He mocked the terrified dwarf and turned to the dead dwarves, but before he could act, Sylvanas kicked the dwarf in the head, knocking him off the bridge.

"Don't let it win" she said slowly, emphasising every word, he looked into her eyes and saw the worry; he sighed and sheathed his weapons, before calling his horse to him.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, c'mon let's get moving, we'll take the dynamite with us, could prove useful" he tied his horse to the cart with the dynamite before mounting his trusty stead, Sylvanas opted to ride on the cart, and act as a rear guard.

"I fear that by healing my body, and restoring my mental strength, the Sunwell fused me and it closer together, making it easier for him to influence my actions, but not control, I didn't lose control, I just felt I could do that." Uther said slowly, more talking to himself than to Sylvanas.

"If we sate him with this genocide, we will only make him stronger, we should try to find his source, and destroy him once and for all." Sylvanas replied, catching Uther off-guard, as she had moved closer to the front of the cart, he turned to look at her, and nodded his agreement, she was right.

The two were cast into silence again as they passed through the miserable Wetlands, rain pouring down on them, forcing Uther and Sylvanas to huddle up on the cart seat, protecting each other from the weather. As the mountain pass to the Dwarven kingdom, the weather began to improve, but still they remained quiet, neither saying a word.

"Halt there travellers!" a voice said from nowhere as they reached the tunnel to Loch Modan, Uther tugged on the reins and the horse stopped moving, seeming to neigh with relief.

"Show yourself!" Sylvanas yelled back to the voice, it was met with six camouflaged dwarves revealing themselves from the marshland on either side of the path, each armed with a small axe and a twelve-bore shotgun.

"State your business stranger" one of the dwarves said, Uther had a flashback to a previous armed checkpoint he had encountered, making him flash a look sideways to Sylvanas.

"I'm Lord Uther of Lordaeron; this is my companion, Sylvanas Windrunner of Quel'Thalas, we have a meeting with Muradin Bronzebeard in a few days, we're on our way to see him, may we pass?" Uther said, remaining seated but bowing slightly to the dwarf who had asked.

"What's with the dynamite?" another dwarf asked, who was standing behind the cart.

"We took it from a group of Dark Iron dwarves, we killed them before they could destroy the Thandol Span, you can take it from us if you like, but I'd recommend sending a guard group to protect it from further attack." Sylvanas said, the dwarves looked at each other quickly then two hurried to relieve the horse of the cart.

"Thank you for protecting the span, we will take the explosives off your hand, and let you continue on to Ironforge" another dwarf said, patting the horse's shoulder, the dwarves separated as Uther and Sylvanas shifted back on to the horse and rode on, the dwarves waving him farewell, four of them moving the cart into the tunnel.

"Well that went well" Sylvanas said cheerily, Uther chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I have a lot of reputation with the southern kingdoms, the dwarves especially, if they had treated us badly, they would have received a fair bit of stick for it from their superiors" Uther explained to her.

"What do the dwarves think of my kin?" Sylvanas asked almost immediately, "I know not many of us have ventured this far south, especially during the wars."

"I don't think there is any inbred hatred between your races, and if there is, I trust you, and that will mean something to them" Uther replied, Sylvanas briefly squeezed his waist in thanks, before nuzzling her head on his shoulder and falling asleep.

_-You will kill thousands, if not for me, then for your people, or for the dwarves, you cannot avoid it.- _the voice whispered in his head.

As they were so close, Uther made them ride through the night, arriving at the gates of Ironforge as the sun rose, Sylvanas woke up and gasped in awe at the sight of the snow covered gates gleaming in the morning light.

"Welcome to Ironforge, ancient stronghold capital of the Dwarven nations, home to the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer Dwarven factions," Uther said proudly as they crossed the threshold into the city.

"Wait, how can it be capital of the Dwarven nations, if a faction doesn't have a stake here?" Sylvanas asked him quietly.

"That's ancient history, originally the three Dwarf factions lived in peace here, but they fell out when the king died, the Bronzebeards won and cast the others out" Uther recalled, "the Wildhammers tried to build their own home at Grim Batol, and the Dark Irons went and tried to build a city to the south."

"What happened to the Wildhammers that drove them back here?" Sylvanas pressed, fascinated by the history, as they slowly rode through the bustling city.

"During the War of the Three Hammers, the Dark Iron dwarves captured Grim Batol and cursed it, the Wildhammers never went back, since then it has been apparently claimed by Orcs and dragonkin. The Dark Irons have suffered a worse fate." Uther explained, as they arrived outside the royal chamber.

"Welcome Lord Uther" Magni said, running over and greeting him warmly with a hug, Sylvanas stayed behind Uther, "and who is your lovely friend" Magni said, gently taking her hand and kissing it.

"I am Sylvanas Windrunner, formerly Ranger General of Silvermoon City, though now I am a companion to Lord Uther." She replied, curtseying slightly before the king. Magni bowed to her and quickly bustled them further into the chamber, where Brann and Muradin were sitting either side of the throne, they both greeted them warmly.

"You're early" Muradin said as he greeted Uther, who blushed slightly.

"Yeah, trouble with the elves forced us to get as far from Quel'Thalas as possible, could you send word to Terenas that I am here, in case he's wondering, and to send the reinforcements as soon as he gets the message." Uther said, Brann nodded and scurried off.

"Those reinforcements will come in useful, there has been a development with the Dark Iron dwarves" Magni said with urgency, the four gathered around the king's throne, as Magni told the arrivals about the developments.

"Muradin says you wish to cause serious casualties to either the Dark Iron or the Blackrock Orcs, both of whom reside in Blackrock Mountain, I have received troubling news that an ambassadorial procession to the Dark Iron nation has been killed, and the ambassador herself has vanished, I demand you force Thaurissan to tell you where she is." As Magni spoke, he slowly got angrier and angrier.

"There's something you're not telling us" Sylvanas said instinctively, knowing something was out of place.

"The ambassador my brother sent, she's his daughter, my niece, Moira Bronzebeard." Muradin said regretfully, and silence washed over them like a tidal wave.


	9. Mountains of Preparation

Mountains of Preparation.

"Okay so backup, why did you send your daughter to negotiate with the enemy?" Sylvanas asked the king, her curiosity and concern rising.

"I thought it would be a sign of extending friendship to our kin, only its bitten us in the backside, what do you propose?" Magni replied.

"When did you send her, and where was the convoy when she vanished?" Uther asked the king, wanting to get as much information as possible.

"Roughly three weeks ago, shortly after I lost contact with Muradin, I felt I had to make our borders secure before sending a rescue party, as it happened she was the closest to the Dark Iron territory so I asked her to go," Magni explained carefully, "I learnt yesterday that the convoy had been destroyed when a brave soul found the remains in the Burning Steppes, there were no survivors from the convoy, I assumed the negotiations were ongoing and I'd here from her when they were finalized."

Uther thought for a moment before speaking, a plan fully formed in his mind, "we don't have any more time to lose, we are going to Blackrock Mountain, and we'll get her back, whether by negotiation or force, when the reinforcements from Lordaeron arrive we'll set off, how long will it take?"

"Mere moments" a gentle voice said from behind them, Uther wheeled around in surprise, recognizing it immediately.

"Jaina?" he exclaimed, running down the short ramp and embracing the young mage in a powerful hug, which she reciprocated.

"It's good to see you too Uther, feels like years since Stratholme, I'm glad King Terenas sent me to aid you." She said as they parted from their embrace.

"Terenas sent you? Where are the soldiers we asked for?" Magni said interrupting their reunion, Jaina nodded at them then waved her hand, and a squad of fifty soldiers appeared in the throne room before them, with another familiar face at the head, his hands bound in front of him.

"Arthas? Why are you here?" Uther asked, his body tensing slightly, the former crown prince smiled weakly.

"Penance for Stratholme, I've been stripped of my right to the throne, and ordered to help the dwarves in any way the king deems rightful." He said deflated, Jaina hurried over, gave him a quick hug before checking his handcuffs, "what happened to us?" Arthas whispered to her, but the king's chamber made it echo so everyone heard.

"You gave up on us, when you gave up your humanity" Jaina said coldly, quickly distancing herself from him, and back to the others, as Brann rushed back in, through the soldiers and stood next to the king.

_-I like her- _it whispered in his mind, he quickly blocked it out for the moment.

"When I heard them arrive I stopped writing the message, curse my need to rush into things" he said out of breath.

"Brann!" Magni said eying the cuffed prince, "you're just in time, Arthas' punishment is to help us in any way I deem right, so, I think he should help you with the Archives, get going, you won't miss much." Brann looked at his brother quizzically, before nodding and walking quickly back down the ramp and out the door, Arthas walking a few steps behind him.

"Wouldn't he be more useful aiding us?" Sylvanas asked, Magni just shook his head.

"If you need reinforcements he will lead them, but it wouldn't be much of a punishment if we just let him help you, the Archives are vast and stretch back centuries, they'll keep him busy whilst you go to Blackrock Mountain and rescue Moira." He said resolutely, Uther nodded.

"I'm coming with you milord" Sylvanas said immediately, not needing to think about it, Uther smiled as Jaina stepped forward.

"Firstly, I'm coming too, and second, who are you?" Jaina said looking at Sylvanas but Uther interjected.

"There'll be plenty of time for introductions and getting to know each other later, for now we should get moving, we'll leave tomorrow, with the reinforcements from Lordaeron and any riflemen you can spare, plus supplies and provisions. If things go bad then we'll need to be able to survive battling through the Dark Iron city, that's not to even consider Orcish intervention, and the other force that lurks under the mountain." Uther said, rushing through everything that he had thought about on the journey's quiet moments.

"Understood Uther, you'll have everything you need to wage a full scale war on them, you will lead, with miss Proudmoore and Ranger Windrunner as your second-in-commands, if you run into trouble, send Jaina to me and we'll send reinforcements per your needs, for now, rest, recuperate and plan your assault, for now go, I have a kingdom to make safe." Magni ordered, Uther, Sylvanas and Jaina bowed and left together.

"So what exactly happened to you? Terenas said something about a cursed blade, and a presence in your mind, then you left without saying where you were going, what happened to you?" she said as they left the royal chamber, into the beating heart of the city, where she stood in front of him and stopped him.

"I'm more concerned with what happened to you, we can talk about my saga tomorrow on the road, where did YOU go after Stratholme?" Uther asked, Jaina sighed heavily.

"A wild goose chase," Jaina said, shrinking slightly from her exhaustion. "Some mysterious man told me I could save the world if I went west across the sea, when I got there, nothing, made an alliance with the Night Elves, a faction of Orcs and a race of people called the Tauren, after then I returned when there was no sign of any danger."

_-Curse your incessant meddling, they will punish me eternally for this mistake, I was so busy dealing with you, that I forgot my purpose for being on this wretched world. Curse for eternity, Uther the Lightbringer!- _With this outburst Sylvanas and Uther collapsed and blacked out.

When he woke, Jaina was leaning over him, looking terrified, he sat up and saw Sylvanas lying on a bed behind Jaina, and he quickly stood and inspected his surroundings.

"Where are we? How long was I out?" Uther pressed Jaina for information, as Sylvanas stirred.

"Twelve hours, we set off for Blackrock Mountain in two hours, and you're in a house in the Great Forge, owned by Muradin, he said I could put you in it until you woke." Jaina said, hugging Uther tightly, "I'm so glad you're all right."

"So am I." Uther said, "But something happened, its, its angry at me, something was supposed to happen, something that your journey west would have been for, but I distracted it, and it is really angry and scared of something more powerful than it, we should be wary." His face was etched with concern; Sylvanas stood up and stood at Uther's side.

"I feel the same as you, you've seriously pissed him off, we should get moving, our march on Blackrock Mountain will distract it, and sate his hatred." She said, checking her armour and weaponry, shaking with anticipation.

"Calm yourself, my dear Sylvanas do not let your passion for the hunt override your calm intelligence, if you slip into blood lust, you'll become as vile as the being that plagues us." Uther said, reworking a speech he had said to Arthas on numerous occasions, Sylvanas nodded and shrank slightly under his judgemental stare.

"Tell me!" Jaina yelled at Uther, scaring him slightly, "Tell me what happened in Northrend, everything that happened from when we last saw each other in Stratholme, to yesterday afternoon." Jaina's anger and annoyance at the man who had been like a father to her for years, who was now keeping him out of his personal life.

"And I'd like to know more about the events before Stratholme, about the plague and the events that drove you to Northrend." Sylvanas added as the three left the house.

"I'll tell the whole tale on the road to the mountain, for now, we check we have everything we need for the assault, I need to get a map of the area, last time I went to that mountain, I was more focused on staying alive, let's go." Uther barked as he led them back to the king's chamber. They spent the two hours preparing for the march and assault, Jaina and Sylvanas loyally helping Uther, sharing some of the responsibility for leading the assault, before mounting up at the gates and leading the fifty Lordaeron soldiers, a company of fifty Dwarven riflemen, with fifty Dwarven soldiers and a contingent of twenty two Gnomish engineers who were riding the supply carts pulled by thirteen pack-rams, out of the city and along the road to Searing Gorge.


	10. Bringing Down the Mountain

Bringing Down the Mountain.

On the road from the city to Loch Modan, Uther retold the entire tale to his two friends, from the outbreak of the plague to arriving at Ironforge, finishing as they reached the tunnel into Searing Gorge, where they stopped the column.

"Alright Sylvanas I want you to be our eyes, think you can get the high ground" Uther said gesturing up the mountain face that the tunnel cut through, a steely glint flashed across her eyes as she nodded and sprang up the cliff face, using the tunnel entrance to help her ascent, until she vanished over the crest. Uther signalled the column and he and Jaina lead it through the tunnel and into Searing Gorge.

"Uther," Jaina asked cautiously as the head of the column left the tunnel and Uther glimpsed Sylvanas moving on the crest of the mountain next to them, "are you and the elf…" she continued but Uther cut her off.

"Sylvanas, her name is Sylvanas Windrunner" he corrected.

"Right, are you and Sylvanas together?" she asked nervously, Uther looked at her surprised, clearly not expecting such a question; he hesitated for a moment before answering.

"We're not together in that sense. It's not romantic. Least I don't view it as romantic." He said, slowly thinking it through as the entrance to the mountain came into view. "I care for her, but it's more like a father loving a daughter, I feel responsible for her, because I cursed her when it hit her with Frostmourne." Jaina nodded timidly, they stopped at the large iron doors into the mountain, as Sylvanas re-joined them.

"Are we expecting a welcoming committee?" Jaina said sarcastically, as the column stopped behind them, and they stared at the sealed doors, Uther smiled.

"Boys, we got a sealed metal door, got a solution?" he yelled back at the column, as the troops scurried to get closer, the gnomes ran through the crowd, carrying a series of bizarre looking objects.

"We got just the ticket, stand back and watch the magic" the lead engineer giggled as they swarmed over the door, sticking the devices over the areas where the doors met, it took mere moments for the gnomes to complete their work, the devices now resembled two large handles for the doors, the lead gnome laughed and handed a small device to Uther, that was connected to the devices by wires, "Just press the button and shazaam the doors will open." Something in Uther didn't hesitate and he hit the button immediately after the gnome spoke, there was a short crackle and the doors flew open, the two devices pushing against each other with some unseen force, breaking the lock and swinging the doors fully open.

"How the…" Jaina exclaimed, Uther signalled and the troops rushed inside.

"Magnets my dear, one of science's greatest forms of 'magic'." A gnome gloated as the pack animals were pulled inside, once everyone was in, a gnome hit another button on the device and the doors swung shut. "That'll stop any unwanted guests joining the party" the gnome said triumphantly.

"Care to do that on the door on the south side" Uther said cheerfully, a few of the gnomes nodded and hurried off to do their job, carrying another two large magnets with them.

"Last time I was here," Uther began, as the swarm of soldiers and the three leaders moved into the core of the mountain, "up there was the Orc last stand, up there is the spire, I'm guessing the orcs and their black dragon entourage have retaken their stronghold, and the Dark Iron city must be…" as he continued speaking they came to the edge of the central walkway, and looked down at the precipice below them, "down there." He said spotting a small building at the base, above the swirling river of lava.

"Well there is no way those chains will support us marching everyone down to that entrance" Jaina said, as the three examined the scene before them, "everyone keep an eye out for an ambush, set positions to guard this entrance, but you twenty go protect the gnomes, we'll need their expertise if there are any more locked doors" Jaina ordered, the soldiers listened then obeyed with the designated group rushing off to the south, the others moving out and covering every approach to the sealed door they had come through, soldiers in front with the riflemen behind. Uther looked at the suspended rock in the center, something strange yet familiar was in the rock.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to ask for directions from a local." He said as he walked through the defensive line and clambered on to one of the large chains holding the rock up and ran down the chain to the large rock. He reached it with ease, and stopped when he stood atop it.

_-There is death here, a strong presence of the dead, which is what you feel, through our bond.-_

Uther walked into the door carved in the stone, finding what appeared to be a tomb, and the presence he felt got stronger, when he stood before the tomb itself he froze.

"I call upon the spirit that haunts here" Uther began, "I demand that you help me bring down the Dark Iron nation once and for all." An elderly dark skinned dwarf appeared before him, ghostly white and floating millimetres above the ground, he looked at Uther with a baffled expression before speaking.

"You ask a Dark Iron dwarf's ghost to help bring down his home nation. Are you stupid or crazy?" the ghost said with distain.

"Neither" Uther said unsheathing Frostmourne, which made the dwarf recoil.

"What is that? Why do I fear it?" it asked, backing up against the iron tomb.

"Because it can control the dead, therefore control you, so I say again, I demand you help me bring down the Dark Iron nation" Uther yelled the last line and thrust Frostmourne through the ghost's chest, it screamed and vanished into the sword, only to reappear a moment later, but now glowing a faint gold instead of plain white.

"What do you wish to know milord?" it asked Uther, bowing politely, Uther staggered and dropped Frostmourne. He stood there for a moment looking at his hands, then at the sword and finally at the ghost, he hated what he had just done to the relatively innocent dwarf's spirit.

_-He'll serve us well-_ the voice chuckled in his head.

"Firstly" Uther said picking up Frostmourne and sheathing it on his back, "I would know your name" Uther said politely, the dwarf smiled cheerily and bowed as he spoke.

"I am Franclorn Forgewright my lord, former Chief Architect of the Dark Iron city referred to Blackrock Depths, a perfect guide to navigating it, and who might you be?"

Uther bowed to the ghost, "I am Lord Uther of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, chief paladin of The Order of the Silver Hand, and unfortunate wielder of the sword to which you are now bound, I am sorry." Franclorn looked at him slightly bemused.

"My lord, you have unwittingly done me a great service, I've lingered here so long I've become bored of these dull confines, you have freed my soul from its tomb, I can now explore the city I helped build with you, and much more besides, and I have you to thank, now let's get moving." With that his ghost vanished back into the blade, and Uther hurried to re-join his small army, when he returned, Sylvanas leapt gracefully down from the rock face above their entrance.

"I've got us a guide" Uther said, his hand reaching back and tapping Frostmourne, making Franclorn's ghost appear before them, "meet Franclorn Forgewright, chief architect behind the city's construction, a perfect guide, now what were you doing up there?" Uther asked Sylvanas as Franclorn bowed to Jaina.

"Working out a means to get everyone down, and I've got one" she said smiling, Uther looked over her shoulder and saw her quiver was currently loaded with three arrows which had been put through a stick of dynamite, "with a bit of Gnomish help, I've put more dynamite on specific chains holding that rock upright, if I hit them with these arrows when lit, they'll blow the supports, causing that pillar to fall, giving us a large, secure ramp down to the city." When she finished she looked at Uther, longing for praise for her work.

"Good work my dear" Uther said pulling her close and kissing her forehead, she beamed and loaded her first dynamite arrow, a gnome ran over with a lit torch, on Uther's signal the gnome lit the tip of the arrow and she fired it at the support Uther had used, there was a brief pause before a large explosion destroyed the stone arm holding it, the other chains groaned loudly with the strain. Sylvanas ran to the edge and fired at another chain, then another, causing the pillar to crack at its base and slide to one side, falling as intended, creating an uneven ramp down to the entrance.

"You're good!" Franclorn exclaimed as he watched the stone settle into place, "but you may want to use those chains to hold it in its new position, otherwise the marching may cause it to shift and fall." The gnomes cheered and ran over to one of the carts, unloading more magnets, and several large sheets of metal, after an hour, the gnomes had used the magnets to seal the chains to the metal platform and powered it with solar panels angled at the lava as a constant power source.

"What's beyond that door?" Uther asked his new guide, Franclorn smiled.

"The main mine, that helped build the city and the Dark Iron war effort, it's still in use, and very busy and leads into the detention block." Franclorn looked nervous, one quizzical look from Uther made him tell. "It is watched over by Overmaster Pyron, a fire lord, minion of Ragnaros." With the mention of Ragnaros, Uther's physical stature shrank significantly.

"So… it's true, it did enslave your people that day." Uther said looking at Franclorn, who nodded solemnly.

"Yes, he tried to summon a power to defeat the other nations, little did he know what he did would affect his people so dramatically and so badly" Franclorn said, staring at the swirling lava below, as the troops moved to cross the makeshift bridge. "He summoned the fire god from the elemental plane, and as thanks, it enslaved our people for eternity."

"And I hope we don't meet him." Uther said grimly, "Let's move!" Uther, Sylvanas, Jaina and the ghost of Franclorn moved to the head of the soldiers again, and lead them across the bridge and into the mine.

"Intruders! Alert the…" a miner yelled when he spotted them coming, he was silenced by Sylvanas who shot him through the throat, quickly hurrying forward and taking out the guards that moved to investigate, the riflemen moved up behind and helped her in shooting the remaining guards, the miners fleeing past them in panic. As the soldiers moved into the mine and secured it, Overmaster Pyron appeared.

"Who dares invade the fire lord's domain!" the elemental boomed, his voice echoing through the cavernous mine, Uther quickly charged forward, drawing its attention from the soldiers and on to him. "You have made a grave mistake by coming here mortal!" it yelled as it charged Uther, who sidestepped it and swung his mace through its core, destroying it upon impact, the firelord screamed and exploded into ash.

"That clears the mine" Uther said triumphantly, the soldiers cheered with him, "fan out, kill the stragglers and secure this passage, as we progress forward, we keep a rear guard, but a contingent will hold this position as a base." Uther looked around the mine, spotting a narrow passage that Franclorn was staring at, "move the carts across the mouth of that passage, use them as a wall against any forces coming from above. Put the supplies behind it, between our advance and the rear guard, let's go!" The soldiers obeyed as everyone swarmed into the passage, Uther, Jaina and Sylvanas at the head.

As they walked through the mouth of the detention block, they heard pained cries and screams coming from a heavily defended area.

"What are those screams?" Jaina asked the ghost.

"Prisoners" Franclorn replied, "The Dark Iron guards seal them into the floor, walls and ceiling of the tunnels, as well as placing more important prisoners in cells, most are left to die."

"Perfect, I think I know some people who can help us clear this section, and I'm sure they'll be relieved for the opportunity." Uther said unsheathing Frostmourne and pointing it at the detention block, feeling the souls lingering in the caverns. _Care to help me with this._ The voice laughed and obliged, as black lightning shot out of Frostmourne and into the tunnel ahead, everyone watched as ghosts appeared from the lining of the cave and swarmed on every Dark Iron dwarf that stood in the tunnel, who had instituted their demise, now suffered a righteous fate at th hands of those they had killed.

"How poetic, they have been instructed to only kill the Dark Iron guards and their fiery overlords, and to leave any surviving prisoners." Uther explained to his troops as they walked into the now empty detention block, filled only with rampaging vengeance seeking ghosts and the corpses of the dark iron who had killed them. Uther turned to face his support, "alright, we are officially in the Dark Iron city, before us lies a vast underground kingdom full of the Dark Iron blighters and their elemental bosses, as well as our target of Moira Bronzebeard, from here we split up, I'll lead a small group straight to the emperor, whilst Sylvanas and Jaina will take the majority of you and focus on wiping out any potential support. Remember to show no mercy, no quarter and keep moving."

"You can't go alone, even with Frostmourne your outnumbered and likely outmatched; someone has to go with you" Sylvanas said clutching his arm, Uther smiled and gently separated her from his arm.

"I have strong support with me" Uther said affectionately as the ghosts returned to his side, "strong, unbeatable support who long for more retribution for their deaths."

"And you have an excellent guide milord." Franclorn said joining the other ghosts; Uther smiled and looked at his support.

"Actually, you two take the troops, these ghosts, plus…" Uther said as the ghosts of the recently slain guards joined the others, albeit rather reluctantly, "growing reinforcements, I'll be fine." Uther moved through the ghosts towards the northernmost tunnel.

"Which way do we go?" Jaina asked, looking around at the six or seven other passages that spread out in numerous directions.

"That way leads to the Dark Iron Highway, where most of the emperor's troops are sent when preparing to move out; it leads into the heart of the city." Franclorn said at the passage next to the one they had come in through. "Might I suggest you meet at the Grim Guzzler pub, it's at the halfway point."

Uther pondered for a moment before nodding, but Jaina was still concerned.

"How do we navigate this place, and then find you once we're done?" she asked in a pleading manner.

"Sylvanas and I are linked through it; she'll be able to find me that way, as for navigation… Franclorn, think you can help both of us?" he said, turning to the architect's ghost who nodded, "then let's go, the longer we dawdle, the more time Thaurissan has to stop us or slow us down more. Don't argue with me just go." Uther quickly turned away from the two women and marched off down his intended path, unsheathing his mace and Frostmourne, hearing the others moving away moments later.

"Emperor Thaurissan…" Uther said in a low growl, a look of fierce determination on his face.

_-…we're coming for you.- _

To be continued…


	11. Sylvanas & Jaina Adventures

Sylvanas & Jaina Adventures.

"Why has Uther sent us away?" Jaina yelled to Sylvanas as they fought their way on to the Dark Iron Highway, Sylvanas shooting the dwarves that came close to defeating their soldiers, as Jaina battled an elemental giant at one end of the highway, before Sylvanas could reply, the giant charged them, forcing them apart.

"Bael'gar SMASH!" it roared as it barrelled past them, Jaina sent a wall of ice smashing into the giant's feet, tripping it up, everyone leapt out of the way as it collapsed, when it was down, Sylvanas leapt on to its head and fired a cluster of arrows into its brain, killing it instantly, before front flipping off its body landing next to Jaina.

"We are needed here, as we have seen there are more than just dwarves in the deep places of the world, and with these elementals…" Jaina said tapping the elemental's corpse with her staff, "we need to stay here and keep the troops safe. Let's keep moving!" She yelled to the troops and they regrouped as Jaina and Sylvanas moved to the front again, as more dwarves swarmed towards them, a voice echoed from a window high above them.

"This is General Angerforge, kill the intruders, but leave the mage and the elf, Thaurissan wants them as trophies!" it yelled at the dwarves, who seemed to increase in number upon this announcement.

"Care to take him out?" Jaina said slyly to Sylvanas who loaded an arrow into her bow and aimed it at one of the windows.

"Gladly." She said as she released it, a moment passed before they heard a familiar voice scream before it went silent, the charging dwarves stopped, looked at each other, then turned around and ran back the way they had come. "I see your point, we are useful here" Sylvanas joked; Jaina chuckled and led them onward, reaching a small platform leading to a circular podium with a large, angry fire lord waiting for them.

"This could be interesting, everyone stay back, watch our rear, I'll deal with this, and Sylvanas back me up." Jaina stated as she stepped forward, drawing it's attention, Sylvanas followed close behind. The fiery form before them laughed loudly, Jaina began channelling her magic into an orb, whilst Sylvanas pulled a fourth dynamite arrow from her quiver, and loaded it into her bow.

"On the count of three" Sylvanas said aiming at its head, "one, two, three" on the final count, Jaina pushed her orb towards the elemental, Sylvanas shot her arrow at the orb when it was about to hit its target, the resulting explosion ripped the lord apart, sending its remains into the lava below.

"We make a good team." Jaina said taking the lead, a loud series of bangs from behind them made them wheel around to see the riflemen aiming above them, their rifles smoking from their recent discharges, it was followed moments later by dwarves falling from the paths above them, into the lava, Jaina smiled, "good work boys." The dwarves chuckled and reloaded their guns, as the soldiers moved past the circular podium.

"He's up ahead" Franclorn said, appearing beside Sylvanas.

"Who's up ahead?" Sylvanas asked the ghost.

"My successor, he's a bastard, may I have the honour?" Franclorn said, a glint of malice in his pale eyes, Sylvanas nodded and Franclorn smiled then vanished, a moment passed before they heard screams of fear up ahead, followed immediately by a faint howl, as someone fell to their death.

"Charge now whilst their distracted!" Jaina yelled and the troops surged forward, cutting down the still terrified dwarves and their incomplete Golems before they could defend themselves, they regrouped at the top of the incline, on one of the platforms above the podium where the fire lord had been, a faint bang could be heard from the Dark Iron highway, before silence momentarily returned.

"Franclorn?" Jaina yelled and the dwarf appeared before them, bowing slightly.

"Thank you m'ladies, I have hoped I could end that bastard's life, I managed to get this before he fell" he said holding out a hand, making a large key-like object appear, Sylvanas reached out and took it.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at it with fascination.

"Ironfel. A relic passed from architect to architect, and a symbol of authority. If you would be so kind, there is a statue in my honour up ahead, if you could place that in it, I would be very grateful." Franclorn said quickly before he vanished again. Sylvanas and Jaina lead the troops, who showed no signs of exhaustion, forward, on their left they found a room containing numerous vaults, once again the gnomes rushed forward and quickly blew the locks on the vaults, whilst the soldiers dispatched the security that showed up to defend it, including four stone golems.

"What is in these…" Jaina asked opening a chest inside one of the opened vaults, inside was a small fortune and a stack of papers, "we should come back to this later, let's go!" Jaina announced, they filled out and Jaina sealed the room with a solid wall of impregnable ice. They tore through a large room full of Dark Iron dwarves that seemed to be a dormitory for them and scurried across a bridge on the other side.

"Well they aren't Dark Iron." Sylvanas said when they saw the corridor ahead full of an unfamiliar group of people, Jaina tensed slightly, recognising their robes instantly.

"Twilight's Hammer! What are they doing here?" she exclaimed, Sylvanas tilted her head at the younger woman, "they're an infamous cult of people who believe in the Old Gods…and the Dark Iron are enslaved to Ragnaros, the ancient fire god." She paused as she put the pieces together, "Kill them!" she yelled and the troops charged past her, cutting the cultists down and clearing the corridor in record time.

The two ladies found Franclorn's monument and put Ironfel in its rightful place, receiving a small key as a reward from a hidden compartment.

"The key to the city." Franclorn said appearing beside them, "my lord Uther isn't far ahead, he forced the dwarves to open to path further into the city, and is waiting for you at the pub, hurry!" With that he vanished again. The group walked up a small ramp on to a large theatre, that was now witness to a great slaughter, every spectator, witness and guard was dead where they sat and in the arena were piles of animal, beast and abomination corpses.

"Uther did this." Sylvanas said with shock, "he can't have, he…"

_-He didn't, I influenced the ghosts, made them kill everything, he merely provided their last entertainment in the arena, little huntress-_

"We have to finish here and destroy the Lich, before he takes Uther's soul completely." She said after the voice had spoken, Jaina looked at the elf's face and saw a tear forming in her eye.

"Let's pick up the pace!" she announced to the troops, who quickened their pace through the arena, and across the bridge that Uther had opened, meeting no signs of life until they reached the entrance to the pub, where Uther was in the middle of a drinking game with a goblin and two dwarves just inside the pub. Jaina signalled for the troops to wait here for their signal and together with Sylvanas they walked in to watch the drinking game.

"What is the stakes milord?" Sylvanas asked as the two ladies sat down behind Uther, watching as one of the dwarves drank a shot of an inky black substance.

"If the goblin wins, a handsome fee from the opponents" he said gesturing to a rather tipsy goblin on his right, "if Hurley wins, he gets the rights to some Dwarven ale" gesturing to the dwarf on his left, "if Rocknot wins, we have to spare his life and let him leave in peace," he gestured to the dwarf opposite him, who has being caressed by a pink succubus behind him. "and if I win, Frostmourne takes their souls, and we get to pass further into the city without trouble from the security" Uther finished by gesturing to a large red golem flanked by two fire lords and by taking his shot of the black liquor.

"They aren't fair odds" Sylvanas whispered so only they could hear her, Uther merely chuckled.

"My dear, they were not sober when I found them, now please, I've almost won." He said in the same quiet tone.

"Have any trouble getting here?" Jaina asked as the goblin took his shot, Uther shook his head.

"After you killed Angerforge, the dwarves I encountered were very unwilling to fight, only had to deal with elementals, and that damned arena."

"We saw what you did there!" Jaina exclaimed in her hushed tone.

"I provided a spectacle, it was going rather well until the ghosts got bored with waiting and killed the crowd." Uther said as he took another shot.

"It made them attack, they didn't get bored. It got bored with waiting, do not blame yourself for the slaughter." Sylvanas said rubbing his shoulders, he smiled and held one of her hands on his shoulder. The goblin, Ribbly, took another shot collapsed backwards off his stool, to the cheer of the patrons.

"_-May I?-"Uther_ said to his competition in a low growl, they nodded timidly, and Uther raised Frostmourne and slashed across the goblin's back, claiming his soul. But once it was done Uther held his head in his hands.

"Two down…" Hurley said, but Uther recovered quickly, and the dwarf grumbled his annoyance as a green skinned gnome ran over and refilled their shot glasses with the black alcohol.

"What are you even drinking?" Jaina asked, getting a whiff of the foul concoction.

"Dire Brew" Hurley said proudly, "Brewed right here in the Grim Guzzler, your friend can certainly handle its kick better than any of your kind who have tried it before."

Uther smiled, "I helped perfect it a few years ago" he said smugly as Rocknot collapsed, the succubus fawning over his unconscious form, "_-two down-" _he added, quickly impaling the succubus and the dwarf on Frostmourne and repositioning himself opposite Hurley, the shot glasses were quickly swept away and replaced with two large kegs.

"Sudden Death!" Plugger Spazzring yelled to the cheers of the crowd, "Each contestant has to finish a barrel of Dire Brew each, first to die loses, the normal rules apply, no help, no pauses and no spills, enjoy!" With that the gnome vanished in a puff of acrid black smoke.

Uther winked at Sylvanas before he and Hurley began chugging the brew straight from the barrels, Jaina and Sylvanas watched in silence as the crowd's encouragements grew louder and louder. Hurley finished first and collapsed to his knees, Uther quickly followed suit, both men on their hands and knees as the brew punched its way through their bodies, the two women held their breath, and prayed their lord would prevail.


	12. Soul Burden

Soul Burden.

_Care to help me win this contest? _Uther asked the voice, knowing it could probably overcome the alcohol.

_-As long as I get the dwarf's soul when it's over, the concoction you've been drinking is highly unnatural , and would kill any casual drinker.-_

_Can't you handle your liquor? _Uther mocked the voice as the fiery alcohol burned his insides; Hurley was also struggling to handle the quantity of it inside him.

_-I am Ner'zhul, king of the Scourge, ancient being from another world, I can manage this gnome's attempt at alchemy, don't test me!- _it's whisper echoed with the malice it was emanating in his mind, and soon Uther felt the burning subside, and stood up, to the cheers of Jaina and Sylvanas, drowned out by the boos of the other patrons, Hurley was still on his knees as Uther flexed his shoulders and let out a loud fiery belch.

"How did you recover so quickly?" Hurley gasped as he felt Frostmourne's tip against the back of his neck.

"You're about to find out" Uther said and applied the tiniest amount of pressure; the tip pierced the dwarf's skin and instantly severed his soul from its body, which subsequently collapsed to the floor, dead. Spazzring reappeared and despite the size difference, held Uther's hand above his head.

"Our winner ladies and gentlemen, The Lightbringer!" the gnome announced to further boos and hisses from the disgruntled patrons, who quickly withdrew arms and improvised weaponry, Sylvanas whistled and the soldiers charged into the pub, quickly overpowering the inebriated patrons and leaving none alive, even Spazzring was killed, as the Golem game to life the soldiers froze.

"Disturbances will be eradicated!" it said as it moved in front of the door, blocking their path, but the Golem shuddered then exploded, from the clouds floated Franclorn, looking bemused.

"I designed it with a self-destruct that only I could use, seemed a wise idea in case I was to get drunk and it turned on me, this way milord." Franclorn said gesturing to the now open and unguarded door. Jaina signalled the troops and they pressed forward, a small group stayed behind, the Guzzler made for a perfect defensive fall-back position, Uther, Jaina and Sylvanas made to leave the pub but a dwarf came rushing at them from a store room.

"My lord Uther!" he yelled as he approached, Uther raised a hand to stop either of the women from killing the unarmed dwarf, "I was told to expect your arrival, congratulations for the drinking contest, and also for making it this far alive." He hurriedly said as the sounds of battle outside echoed in the pub, the soldiers had clearly met some trouble ahead.

"Who are you?" Jaina asked the seemingly friendly Dark Iron dwarf.

"Lokhtos Darkbargainer, at your service, I represent the Thorium Brotherhood, a splinter group of Dark Iron dwarves who broke away when Ragnaros enslaved our people, we now work against them in relative secrecy." The dwarf bowed as screams could be heard outside, Jaina rushed out to help the soldiers.

"How did you know to expect us?" Sylvanas asked, the dwarf smiled and a portal opened behind him, through it they saw the royal chamber in Ironforge, before he quickly closed it.

"What awaits us up ahead?" Uther asked the dwarf quickly, the sounds of battle growing faint, as the soldiers moved forward.

"Some of the strongest in Thaurissan and Ragnaros' arsenal, plus the emperor himself, but if you see a metal bridge across a river of lava do not go near it." Lokhtos said in a slightly panicked, fearful tone, "it leads to the Molten Core, the lair of Ragnaros himself, you'll need more than soldiers to defeat him."

"What about Moira?" Sylvanas asked quickly, itching for action.

"The princess is here?" Lokhtos asked confused, "If she's not in the detention block, then she must be with Thaurissan."

Uther sighed with frustration, "thank you Lokhtos for the information, we'll get moving, tell Magni we're making progress, but may need reinforcements if we have to deal with the Spire or the Core" he said quickly moving away from the dwarf, who nodded and vanished, Sylvanas followed quickly behind Uther out of the pub.

"My lord wait, Sylvanas said grabbing his shoulder, stopping him just outside the pub, "we need to talk about what happened to you in there."

"I know what yo want to talk about, and i know its taking hold" Uther said leaning on the hand rail, "i feat the Sunwell healed the divide between us, meaning i could be losing myself to it a lot quicker now."

Sylvanas put her hand on his shoulder for moral support, "we'll get through this, me and Jaina are to help Uther, it wont be long before we find a way to kill it permanently, and then things will return to normal."

"Or as normal as things can be for us, i dont think your people will welcome you back with open arms any time soon." Uther replied looking over his shoulder at her.

"I know, but i was always longed for adventure beyond the relative safety of Silversong Woods, now i have that." Before they could talk any more, they heard screams of pain from further on, they ran to find out what had caused it.

They quickly caught up with Jaina and the soldiers who were watching the mage fight a orange-skinned fiery reptile that repeatedly summoned small fiery creatures, Jaina blasted them away and Sylvanas fired an arrow straight between the beast's eyes, catching it off guard and killing it instantly, the soldiers quickly recovered and charged on.

"Thanks for that!" Jaina said as she tended to several burned soldiers who had been lying behind her, "They charged straight into a trap, I managed to save most of them, but some…" she pointed at several piles of ash, "didn't stand a chance."

"How many men do we have left?" Uther asked as he looked down the passage the soldiers had charged down.

"Well we're down to roughly twenty Lordaeron soldiers, the some Dwarven soldiers have moved to defend our rear guard and the new fall-back position, along with the remaining riflemen, and the gnomes have fled, at this rate we won't make it to the throne room." Jaina said as a soldier she was tending to, died in her arms, she lovingly lay him down and closed his scared eyes.

"We'll make it, the men know the risks" Uther said matter-of-factly, the women stared at him with disbelief, "they wouldn't be charging ahead if they weren't willing to die to protect the Alliance" he added noting their glares.

"Uther?" Jaina said standing up, "What is happening to you?" she clutched at his elbows and held him in place, staring deep into his eyes.

"I…" Uther said avoiding her eye contact, he sighed and looked into her worried eyes, "I don't know, I feel like I'm losing myself to the madness, the Sunwell didn't help me get control, it made things worse, if I don't find a way to destroy the menace once and for all, I'll be lost forever." Jaina held him in a loving embrace, Sylvanas joined her.

"No" Jaina said pushing them apart and looking into his eyes, "not my Uther, the Uther I know would continue to fight it, he would never let an evil overwhelm him, he'd keep on fighting, keep on going for those he loves, and for those who love and care for him." Uther looked into her eyes and seemed to grow in confidence.

"You're right girl; I don't know what I was thinking, lets deal with this mountain and then focus on ending Ner'Zhul once and for all." Uther said, unsheathing his weapons and jogging after the soldiers, Jaina and Sylvanas smiled at each other then followed behind him, they moved through an empty Golem factory, the occupants had been dealt with by the soldiers, but their hope faded in the next room where they saw the last of the soldiers being slain by seven Dark Iron ghosts.

"We are The Seven" one of them said to the trio as it killed the last soldier, "we are those who were blessed with summoning the fire god into this world, and we will protect his domain from intruders!" it yelled across the chamber, the trio looked baffled at each other but Franclorn appeared beside them.

"My lord, if I might be so bold" he said bowing to Uther, "they are some of the most powerful Dark Iron dwarves ever, and could serve you well, do what you did to me on them and claim their power."

"Uther don't listen to him, you don't need them, you could easily defeat them with the Light and we can progress onward without delay" Jaina said clutching his arm tightly.

"I'll give them the choice, let them decide their fate." Uther said and slowly stepped forward into the room, before either Jaina or Sylvanas could protest, the doors into the chamber swung shut, sealing them out.

"Who dares to challenge The Seven!" the lead ghost said as Uther approached him, Franclorn floating behind him.

"One with the power to defeat you!" Uther replied in the same bold shout, the seven dwarves laughs echoed in the chamber, "But it's your choice, you can either be bound to serve me, or I can ensure you finally rest in peace, what say you?" The dwarves' laughter was cut short when he mentioned he could make them serve him.

"Why would we serve you? You are weak, old, and mortal" the lead said, trying to verbally wound him, "Ragnaros is immortal, unbeatable and eternal, you cannot match him." Uther let a smile creep across his face and tapped the hilt of Frostmourne, the room was then filled with the ghosts of those he had killed on his trek through the mountain, the Seven were stunned.

"What magic is this?" one of them said, now Uther laughed, as he stepped closer to the first of their tombs, the souls of the slain soldiers joined the ghosts in the room.

"I am cursed, since taking up this blade I seem to be immortal, and can channel the dead to do my bidding, so I ask again, join me or rest in peace?" Uther said, tapping the tomb with his foot, the Seven huddled and spoke in hushed whispers as Uther dismissed the other ghosts.

"We have made our decision." The lead said after several moments of silence.

"And?" Uther said, wanting to return to dealing with Thaurissan as soon as possible.

"We have decided to join you; power over the elements is nothing against power over the dead." The dwarf said proudly, there was a rumble from somewhere close by and the dwarves suddenly looked terrified, "hurry and bind us to you, we have angered him." Uther nodded and one by one plunged Frostmourne through the ghosts, like Franclorn they vanished and reappeared a moment later, glowing slightly gold, Franclorn appeared after Uther converted the final ghost and the doors swung open, letting Jaina and Sylvanas join him.

"What do I call you?" Uther asked the lead dwarf, who promptly smiled and bowed.

"You may call me Doom'rel, I am the leader of The Seven; we are at your service my lord." Doom'rel said as he straightened up, Uther smiled weakly and dismissed them as he moved forward, Jaina and Sylvanas in his wake.


	13. The Fate of the Kingdom

The Fate of the Kingdom.

"You shouldn't have done that" Jaina said as she caught up with Uther, who sighed and turned to look at her.

"I gave them a choice, I offered servitude to me or resting in peace for eternity, they chose servitude." Uther explained, Jaina seemed to understand, but clearly didn't like it, as they all spotted a familiar sight.

_-That's the bridge the dwarf warned us about, I can sense the god's power, its formidable, but if you were to clear the spire, we could destroy it with ease.-_

"Uther… we shouldn't linger here" Sylvanas said backing away from the bridge, followed by Jaina, Uther nodded and dragged them forward, towards two large iron doors, that swung open upon their approach, revealing a large room swarming with Dark Iron soldiers and fire lords.

"We won't make it through this room, there are too many of them." Jaina said sadly, looking at the sight before them, "not without help." She looked at Uther longingly, he sighed with despair.

_-Walk into the centre of the room, raise Frostmourne above your head, and I'll take care of the rest-_

Uther felt he no choice but to, for the moment, trust the voice's advice, and the dwarves seemed distracted, so he gently pushed Jaina and Sylvanas back and walked into the room, passing by groups of heavily armed dwarves, until he stood in the centre of the room. He did as the voice had asked and raised it above his head, pointing it at the roof, which drew the dwarves attention and they charged him. Frostmourne immediately emitted black and gold lightning from the tip, the bolts striking down everything in the room that moved, until he stood at the centre of a room of dead dwarves. The sight made him drop Frostmourne and collapse to his knees, Jaina and Sylvanas rushed over and held him between them.

"What have I done?" he said, looking at his hands, then at Frostmourne which was still emitting streaks of lightning at dwarves that tried to flee in terror.

"It's not your fault milord" Sylvanas said, "It tricked you, but you did clear a path for us, the emperor must be beyond those doors, we're almost done, it's almost over." Together with Jaina they helped Uther to his feet, and she handed Frostmourne to Uther, who quickly sheathed it, ceasing its lightning. The doors on the far side of the room opened, and the trio quickly moved through one of them as Franclorn reappeared.

"The emperor's throne room is just beyond this corridor, it's just…" Franclorn said cheerfully, but his pride died when he saw the corridor ahead, "well that's different." He said without thinking, the corridor was lined with eight large golems, four on each side and an elemental giant guarded the door at the end.

Jaina stepped forward with Sylvanas; Jaina began summoning another magical orb, whilst Sylvanas loaded two arrows on to her bow and took aim, Uther stood back and watched, still distraught from slaughtering everyone in the Lyceum. Jaina hurled the orb at the giant's head and Sylvanas waited until it was about to hit before firing her arrows, making it explode against the giant's head, the force ripped it clean off its body, it collapsed moments later, its head landing next to it.

"That was easy!" Jaina said as she moved closer to the giant's corpse, but there was a rumble from below and the eight golems began spewing fire across their path, forcing her to step back from the heat.

"You just had to say it didn't you!" Sylvanas yelled over the roar of the golems' fire.

"Franclorn!" Uther yelled, the dwarf appeared from the sword, followed by the Seven, who spread out and each took out one of the golems by possessing it then ripping out its power core. When they had finished they returned to the sword and the trio walked calmly through the now peaceful corridor and around the giant's corpse, pausing before the final door.

"We're here, it's almost over!" Jaina said gently touching the door, making sure she wasn't dreaming. "How do we handle it?"

"Let me do all the talking" Uther said resting his hands on the doors. "I have an idea to deal with him if he gives us grief." With that he pushed the heavy doors open, and walked in front of Sylvanas and Jaina, who flanked him.

"Welcome intruders," Thaurissan said mocking them as they approached, the numerous royal guards, ambassadors and powerful individuals parted to let them approach the throne, where Thaurissan reclined with Moira at his side. "I'd say that I'd get you a drink or something to eat, but you've killed the help."

"Enough jokes!" Uther yelled, silencing the laughter, "Emperor Thaurissan…"

"Please stranger, let's not be formal, call me Dagran, and you are?" he said standing up and bowing slightly.

"Someone who can make your life very difficult unless you cooperate" Sylvanas replied drawing her bow, but Uther placed a hand in front of her, which pacified her momentarily.

"As my companion said, if you try anything, I can guarantee you will regret it, i'm being polite now, but it wouldn't take much for me to not be quite so formal." Uther unsheathed both his weapons and took a step forward, Thaurissan nonchalantly signalled the crowd, which closed in behind them, cutting off their escape. "If you think you've got the advantage, you are sorely mistaken."

Thaurissan laughed and the crowd charged them, Jaina slammed her staff down and a shockwave blasted them back, their bodies crashing into the walls, and the raised levels on either side, with an echoing sound of bones breaking, when they hit the ground, they didn't move.

"You killed my loyal followers! You've invaded my city, killed my people, dared to oppose the fire god Ragnaros and now you've killed my closest minions, you'll pay for that!" Dagran yelled at them, his anger overwhelming him with every point.

"No emperor Thaurissan, you will regret your oppressive reign, and your people have had enough!" Uther yelled back, putting Thaurissan down before he tried anything more dire, Dagran looked bewildered.

"My people? You've killed my people, my once mighty city is a ghost town, there is no one left to oppose me here, except you." Dagran said, calmly walking down from his raised throne and stopping a few meters in front of Uther.

"I don't think so" a voice echoed in the empty chamber, Thaurissan looked around bewildered, but he looked at Frostmourne in horror as Franclorn floated out of it. "We are here to end your regime, once and for all." With that The Seven appeared, flanking Uther, Jaina and Sylvanas, moments later every dwarf soul that they had killed in the city, appeared behind Uther, as did the souls of the recently killed from the Lyceum and Dagran's throne room, making the emperor retreat back to his throne in fear.

"You killed my entire people! I'm the last Dark Iron dwarf, you've committed genocide!" Dagran yelled, his anger returned in force.

"No Thaurissan!" Doom'rel yelled, "your ancestor killed us when we were enslaved to that demonic god! Our people have been dead for centuries under its rule, death is preferable. Servitude to Lord Uther is preferable to being bound to the living embodiment of hell!"

"But you were the ones who summoned it; you're responsible for our enslavement!" Dagran yelled back, still terrified, knowing his power couldn't harm the ghosts that now filled his throne room.

"No! Don't try to tie us to this! We obeyed our emperor, who said we would summon a force we could control to defeat the other Dwarven nations, he was the one who lead the summoning. He is solely responsible, and you are equally accountable for not standing up against it!" Seeth'rel joined the argument, standing at Doom'rel's side.

"How can you stand against a god?" Dagran pleaded with the ghosts, now on his knees in front of his throne, Moira still hadn't moved, her face seemed to be in a daydream.

"You stand and fight!" Uther yelled at the emperor, catching everyone off guard, "You don't just take subjugation sitting down; you stand and fight, even if you're worn away, even if the odds are insurmountable, you stand, you fight, and you keep going, until death if needs demand it." His speech made him shake slightly, as the voice laughed at his stance, but Jaina and Sylvanas each held one of his hands and squeezed it tightly.

Dagran was so scared of the ghosts' potential retribution against him that he didn't reply to Uther's bold speech, he just remained on his knees, Uther walked between the ghosts who parted for him, and he walked up and stood over Thaurissan.

"Dagran Thaurissan, Emperor of the Dark Iron nation, by the power invested in me by the Alliance of Lordaeron, Stormwind, Ironforge and Quel'Thalas, as well as by conquest the Dark Iron nation, you are hereby stripped of your authority and rank, and sentenced to death at the hands of the people you wronged. Do you have anything to say before your sentence is carried out?" Uther commanded, standing over the former emperor, who wilted further under his presence.

"Please…spare my wife, spare my unborn child," he said breaking into tears, "take your vengeance out on me, I'm responsible for your misery" he said facing the oncoming ghosts.

"Sentence is passed; the accused may take their retribution now." Uther said, moving past Thaurissan and picking up the dazed princess and returned to Jaina and Sylvanas as the ghosts swarmed Thaurissan, their whispers mad him clutch his ears and scream.

"What's happening?" Jaina said as they backed off, the number of ghosts seemed to increase, surrounding Thaurissan in a thick opaque gold ethereal cloud, with the former emperor at the centre, clutching his ears and screaming in pain.

"Retribution," Uther said rather proudly, "I can feel their anger, they are making him endure centuries of misery in mere moments, whilst keeping him alive throughout, only when they are done, will he die."

"And what's up with the princess, she's completely out of it." Sylvanas said looking at the frozen figure of the Bronzebeard royal family member.

"It's some form of mind control, I don't think it'll break until he's dead. I'm more concerned about his wife and child, where are they?" Jaina said looking around for a hidden door.

"I don't know, but I think we may need to stand back, the ghosts are almost done" Uther said, they backed off as the still screaming emperor, his eyes and ears bleeding, began to deteriorate, the ghosts ripping him apart, piece by piece, until there was no trace of him, except the crown, that clattered on to the empty throne. The ghosts finished swirling around the throne and regrouped around Uther, Jaina and Sylvanas, and began pushing him toward the throne, leaving the now unconscious Moira behind.

"What are they doing?" Sylvanas said as the ghosts separated her and Jaina from Uther.

"They want me to take the vacant seat on the throne, become king of the mountain" Uther said as the shoving pushed him on to the podium, in front of the throne.

"You can't" Jaina shouted, "you'll be a blood-stained king of a dead nation, its wrong and you know it!"

"Please milord." Franclorn said as he appeared beside the throne by Uther, "You're more powerful and popular than he was, and you have the traits that most kings have, why not take the vacant throne."

"I'm a Lord of Lordaeron first and foremost, I don't hold any rights to the throne, especially one so corrupted by Thaurissan, and it's not secure, with the Orcs and Black dragonflight above, and the fire god below, it's risky, especially with the entire kingdom being undead." Uther preached to the jostling ghosts in front of him.

"Why not have a nation of the dead, especially the dead of those that were wronged like these people were in life, and robbed of their life like the Dark Iron people were." Sylvanas said slowly, walking towards Uther, looking imploringly into his eyes.

"I don't have anything against a nation of the undead, especially for the Dark Iron, who were robbed of a life by Thaurissan, but I am not the one to rule it, I do not deserve such a responsibility." Uther responded, slowly sitting down on the edge of the podium. "You can disperse, I… I need to think." The ghosts bowed to him and vanished, Sylvanas and Jaina ran forward and joined him in sitting on the edge of the podium.

"My lord… before you make any decisions regarding the throne" Jaina said wrapping an arm around his shoulder as he held his head in his hands, "I think you should convene with Terenas and Magni, they'll want to know what happened down here, especially with Moira over there." She gestured to the princess who began to stir.

Sylvanas leapt down and ran to her side and helped the princess to her feet as she rubbed her eyes, as if waking from a long sleep, "Wha… What happened?" she said groggily, she jumped out of Sylvanas' grip when she saw her holding her, "who are you?" she wheeled around and looked at the vacant throne, "Where's Dagran? Who are you? What are you doing here?" Moira ran back to the throne and collapsed when she saw the crown lying on the empty throne.

"My name is Uther, I'm from Lordaeron" he said as he stood up and walked over to greet her, "this is Jaina Proudmoore, a mage from Dalaran, and she is Sylvanas Windrunner, a high elf from Quel'Thalas. We were sent by your father Magni to rescue you and end Dark Iron aggression against the other Dwarven nations, we…" Moira interrupted him.

"Save me?" I don't need saving, I came here willingly, I was not in any danger." She said disgusted by what he had said.

"Your entire convoy was found dead, you left no message and didn't contact your father, he assumed…" Uther said hesitantly, completely confused.

"Oh my father assumed!" she blurted, her anger rising, "well my father can shove his assumptions where the sun doesn't shine."

"He sort of did." Sylvanas chortled, "he sent us to this sunless place based on his assumption." Uther gave her a stern look but she didn't back down, "what? You know it's true." She said innocently.

"Well you can tell him I don't need rescuing, I'm fine here, now where is Dagran?" she said in a spoilt manner raising her nose to them and looking around for the emperor.

"He's dead, finally got the retribution for his crimes and as for your father…" Jaina said channelling her magic, "you can talk to him yourself." With that the Bronzebeard king appeared in front of her, looking momentarily confused before spotting his daughter and hurrying to hug her, but Moira stopped him.

"Moira, it's me, your father, don't you recognise me?" Magni said, still trying to embrace her, but she kept her distance.

"I do, but I'd rather you were not here" she said glaring at him, then at Jaina.

"What did he do to you?" Magni said, his concern was visible in his tone.

"He? Dagran Thaurissan? He loved me like a person, he showed me genuine affection, and gave me an actual family, unlike you." She spat at her father.

"Okay, let's get you two a room to talk it out" Jaina said, teleporting the dwarves out of the throne room whilst they were still arguing.

"Where'd you send them?" Uther asked, curious about their destination.

"Ironforge throne room, first place I thought of, not brilliant, but their family troubles are not our concern, you are!" Jaina said deflecting the conversation back to Uther.

"I don't want to be king of them, I don't deserve it, it's not right." Uther said, retaking his place, sitting on the edge of the podium.

"_-What's not right, you have an entire people at your control, you rightfully dethroned the previous king, you are the rightful successor.-_"The Lich spoke through Uther, catching the women off guard.

"Silence! Its your fault I'm in this mess in the first place, don't talk just let me think." Uther said, his hands resting on the back of his head as he curled up, but a new voice made him sit bolt upright.

"Might I make a suggestion Lord?" said a dark skinned, grey haired man in unnatural looking armour, who walked causally into the throne room like he had been invited.

"Who are you?" Sylvanas said drawing and aiming her bow at the man in a heartbeat.

"I am the Lord of Blackrock Spire, and I come with a proposition" the lord bowed and behind him stood a legion of orcs and black dragonkin.

-AN-

_Sorry for the rather long winded chapter, but a lot had to happen and i felt it best to do it in one chapter._


	14. Light, Fire, Wind and Death

Light, Fire, Wind and Death.

_-A Black Dragon! A powerful one, do not trust him, be ready to fight.-_

"I would welcome you here, but it's not my throne room or my kingdom, despite what people are saying" Uther said, getting up and walking casually over to shake hands with the dragonkin disguised as a human. "I am Lord Uther, often called the Lightbringer; I'm a paladin of The Silver Hand, and a knight of the Alliance." The strange man tensed at the mention of the Alliance, and at Uther's name, but cordially shook hands with Uther and introduced himself.

"I am Victor Nefarius, Lord of Blackrock Spire, leader of the Blackrock Orcs and the Black Dragonflight and others who that dwell there; I come in peace, and recognise the Lord of Blackrock Depths as a representative for its people." Now Uther tensed at being called the lord of the depths, clearly they were each trying to unsettle the other to their own advantage, "who are your compatriots?" Victor asked, catching Uther by surprise.

"This is Lady Jaina Proudmoore of Dalaran and Lady Sylvanas Windrunner of Quel'Thalas, they are my advisors and companions, state your intent with this meeting." Uther said formally, is tone grew icy as he quickly brought the topic to the necessary subject.

"My lord…" Victor chuckled, an echo of his true form tinged in his laugh, "I come to make a deal, regarding ownership of the mountain, we are almost equal in power, so we are on a fairly even table, from which we can negotiate, and we are the only…"

"_-Almost even!-"The_ Lich yelled through Uther, his deeper echoey voice reverberated in the empty throne room, which surprised Victor.

"My dear Uther…" Victor again chuckled, but his eyes betrayed his savage cruelty that oozed from his next words, "You have no idea what you are dealing with, now let us negotiate before things become less civilised." Uther sighed heavily and gestured to the centre of the throne room, Victor nodded and the two lords walked over and stood in the centre.

_-He has no idea WHO he is dealing with, if he tries anything kill him, the ghosts will slaughter his help!-_

"What exactly do you want?" Uther said looking into Victor's eyes, seeing the fire that was barely concealed by the dragon's human form.

"To discuss ownership of the mountain, now that the cursed Dark Iron dwarves are no longer a concern, we can discuss the matter like gentlemen." Victor gently paced around Uther as he spoke.

"If you have put up with them under you for this long, then you must realise there is another element in play here." As Uther spoke a small fiery tornado appeared between Sylvanas and Jaina. On cue it exploded, sending the two women crashing into the walls and knocking them out, as a large flamewalker appeared, flanked by two fiery spirits.

"How dare you ssteal from the lord of living flame mortal!" It spat as it slithered over to Uther and Victor, something in Uther shifted and he waved his hand, a light gold, barely visible figure rushed through the fire lords, destroying them before it swung around them and closed the doors, vanishing into the wall. "What wass that?" it hissed looking around confused.

"Something to ensure we aren't disturbed, this is a negotiation, not the makings of another war." Uther said unsheathing Frostmourne and his mace, he walked over and rested his mace on a nearby chair, Victor quickly followed suit, as did the flamewalker, each removing their weapons and placing them out of reach, before returning to the centre, Uther thrust Frostmourne into the ground beside him and the image of the Deathbringer appeared before them, catching the flamewalker and Victor off guard.

"What iss that thing?" the flamewalker hissed, a note of fear in his voice at the apparition that existed encasing where Frostmourne stood.

"A fourth party, whose interest lies in this mountain." Uther looked at the others, who just stared at the ghost, "it's a rather long story, but just call it The Lich King, it represents the Dark Iron nation, I represent the Alliance, Lord Nefarius here represents the Spire, and you flamewalker represent the Core." This drew their attention back to the centre.

"You think you can negotiate with my master, the lord of living flame?" the flamewalker spat.

"Lord Uther and his two unconscious companions…" Victor said gesturing to the unconscious forms of Jaina and Sylvanas, "defeated the Dark Iron nation almost single handily, which is why I must ask, if the Lich represents them, then he doesn't have a say." Nefarius chuckled but the Deathbringer had other ideas, it waved his hand and ghosts of dwarves appeared and disappeared, which made Nefarius stop laughing, and straighten up slightly. "I see, he represents the undead Dark Iron nation." The flamewalker also readjusted its position.

"Ssince we are being sso formal," it said slowly, looking at its competition one by one, "I am Majordomo Executuss, right hand to my lord Ragnaross."

"And you are Nefarian, eldest brood of Deathwing" Uther said staring through Victor who seemed surprised that his identity was known, "I recognised your name immediately, even it knows your not human" he gestured to his evil ghostly duplicate who nodded in agreement.

"So you've heard of me?" Nefarian asked, his air of formality and kindness dropped, his primal savage nature showing clearly in his manner now, "And I have heard of you Lightbringer, the Orcs under my thrall have a long and bitter hatred for what you did during the war." This revelation didn't surprise Uther, who simply shrugged it off.

"_-Knowing him so well-" _The Lich said slowly, "_-he would hope they remembered him. -_" Uther wheeled on his ghostly double, who didn't flinch or look scared by the look he gave it.

"Naturally," Nefarian said smiling, "anyone who brought the Blackrock Orcs to the edge of extinction would, no matter no much they denied it, want to be remembered by the enemy. I'm guessing you know of me through my father's actions at Grim Batol?" Nefarian looked at Uther hoping for confirmation, Uther shook his head.

"Through rumours and hearsay. As well as your sister's attempt to assassinate the king of Stormwind." Nefarian chuckled but quickly changed the subject.

"We can discuss that another time." He said looking at Executus and the Lich, who seemed rather bored.

"Yess you can," Executus hissed angrily.

"We are here to discuss rightful possession of this mountain, and by my act of," Uther began, though he paused as he realised his act, "of slaughtering the Dark Iron nation." He quickly recovered and continued speaking, "the scales are balanced, and negotiation, peaceful negotiation MUST take place, here and now." The others nodded and they quickly moved out from the middle and wrenched seats from the wall, placing them in the middle and taking their seat, except for Executus, who rested on its tail. When they had taken their seats, a table formed in the middle, made from solidified ash.

"Let's begin, shall we." Nefarian said, smiling proudly.


	15. King Under the Mountain

King Under the Mountain.

Sylvanas woke from her unconsciousness to a bizarre sight, Uther, the man called Victor, a snake-like fiery beast and a ghostly apparition that resembled Uther, were deep in a fierce negotiation over a black table, which seemed to glow beneath two of the figures. Sylvanas quickly got up and rushed forward to help her lord, but something barred her way. She looked down and saw Jaina's staff holding her back, her head turned to see Jaina standing next to her, shaking her head.

"We can't interrupt, the negotiation is delicate enough with so much at stake, and the powers that are arguing here, Uther will have to fight this alone." Jaina said, placing her staff upright and moving her hand to Sylvanas' arm to hold her instead.

"How's he doing?" Sylvanas asked watching the strangely quiet negotiations.

"I cast a shield around them after they woke me, its muted them to us, and protects us from when it gets violent." Jaina said pointing at the sheen that Sylvanas now noticed was surrounding them, she also noticed several burn marks that scored the empty throne room walls and ceiling, and a few burning corpses of Thaurissan's ambassadors.

"How long was I out?" Sylvanas said as her muscled began to ache from the impact that had knocked her out.

"At least an hour, I woke up a while ago when one of them almost hit me with a fireball, want me to introduce them?" Jaina said rubbing her sore head.

"I know Uther and the man, who called himself Victor, not sure of the other two, but the ghost looks like Uther, so please introduce them to me."

"Well the man who called himself Victor is in fact Nefarian, a black dragon in mortal guise" Jaina said slowly, Sylvanas looked at her completely stunned by the revelation, "just go with it, it's complicated. The flamewalker, Majordomo, is a pawn of Ragnaros the fire god, and the ghost is…"

"What the Lich wants Uther to become!" Sylvanas exclaimed when her mind finally worked it out, "and what are they arguing over?"

"Possession of this mountain, they each represent part of it, Majordomo represents the Core, The Lich the Depths, Nefarian the Spire and Uther is representing the Alliance, who now own the surrounding land. That's not even bringing into play the power they each possess at their command." Jaina explained, slowly pointing out each of the delegates.

"How's Uther doing?" Sylvanas muttered, after several moments of silence.

"He seems to be enjoying the challenge of diplomacy, from what I have seen, he's back to his old self." Jaina said smiling.

"You do realise why he's back to his usual self, for the moment at least." Sylvanas said staring past Uther.

"Yeah, he's for the moment separated from it, but it's still routed in his soul." Jaina said, momentarily filled with hope, but it quickly faded. "This thing has to have a source, somewhere physical from which his power comes, we just have to find it and destroy it." Sylvanas looked at her momentarily before turning back to watching the muted negotiation.

"From what he said, it must be somewhere in Northrend. After this negotiation is over we must go there and finish it, for all of us." She clenched her fist around one of her daggers, using it as anger relief. Jaina nodded her agreement as Uther stood up, she waved her staff and the barely visible bubble dissipated.

"_-Well I think its settled_-," The Lich said as it also stood up, "_-you can all die now!-"_ Uther cursed under his breath and grabbed the hilt of Frostmourne making the ghost dissipate.

"Don't listen to it!" Uther said hurriedly as Nefarian and Executus moved to get their weaponry, "it wants this conflict to erupt because it thinks it can win, don't let it win" Uther said sheathing Frostmourne with one hand holding the other out to try and calm the others.

"You're trying to trick uss" Executus hissed as it took up its trident, "the lord of living flame will punissh you for this deception!" With that the firewalker charged Uther, his trident bursting into flames that wrapped around it.

"Please don't do this!" Uther begged, parrying the charge as Sylvanas and Jaina charged in to distract it as Nefarian and Uther began to circle each other.

"I told you I am more powerful than you think, I am a child of Deathwing as you know, the Black dragonflight are the most powerful of the dragon races, and your puny paladin training is no match for me." Nefarian said as his flaming sword in his hand nearest Uther, who was only holding Frostmourne.

"Please Lord Nefarian, we can return to a civilised discussion, don't let your anger for the Lich's betrayal, blind you to what we had agreed upon." Uther pleaded, but he knew what Nefarian's reply would be.

"You had your chance and he blew it for you, prepare to die!" Nefarian raised his flaming sword and brought it down as Uther blocked it with Frostmourne, the sounds of the battles made the orcs and black dragonkin that had been waiting outside charge in, Sylvanas broke off from helping Jaina with Executus to deal with Nefarian's reinforcements single-handed.

The once peaceful negotiations had descended into three small, but deadly stand offs, Majordomo Executus was in a magical duel with Jaina, Lord Uther was in an intense sword fight with Nefarian's mortal form, and Sylvanas was outnumbered by angry, blood-hungry orcs and dragonkin. But Sylvanas was first to break out of her skirmish, despite their numbers, the orcs and dragonkin were not enough to defeat the skilled ranger, and were promptly cut down.

Sylvanas caught her breath and moved behind Majordomo to aid Jaina, the flamewalker noticed the manoeuvre and promptly vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"The Lord of living flame will remember thiss betrayal mortal!" it hissed as it vanished. Nefarian noted that it was three against one and laughed.

"Enough foreplay, time to end this farce!" he yelled, Sylvanas instinctively pushed Jaina back and leapt out of the way as the man belched fire at them before shedding his mortal disguise, the dragon now filled the rather confined throne room, his wings ripping apart the two balconies on either side, in the confusion Uther dived and managed to grab his mace before Nefarian slammed his claws down where it had been, "prepare to die 'Lightbringer'!" Nefarian roared.

Jaina and Sylvanas moved to Uther's side and the mage cast a shield over them as Nefarian breathed a thick column of flame in their direction.

"What do we do?" Sylvanas yelled as she dived out of the way of Nefarian's claws.

"Stay alive!" Jaina yelled back, she threw fire of her own at the dragon but it impacted on his scales and did nothing.

"I have an idea!" Uther yelled, avoidin the dragon's fire and moving toward the throne, "but I need you to distract it!"

"What!?" Sylvanas yelled, the dragon's roars almost deafening them in the confined space.

"Distract it!" Uther yelled, sheathing his weapons and moving behind the throne, out of sight, Sylvanas took a moment and drew her bow, she dived to one side as the dragon took a swipe at her, and fired arrows at its eyes before avoiding another column of fire, Nefarian roared as the arrows hit the soft flesh around his eyes, momentarily blinding him. Uther took his chance, he ran and jumped on to the dragon's head, scrambling across its face and clinging on to its horns as it tried to shake him off.

"Get off me puny gnat!" Nefarian yelled, thrashing he head into the remains of the walkways, trying desperately to shake Uther off.

-_Kill it, stab Frostmourne through its skull!- _the voice said confidentially, Uther unsheathed his mace and braced himself as Nefarian stopped trying to shake him off, and instead focused on Jaina and Sylvanas, whom it could still see.

"Uther hurry!" Jaina yelled as she shielded herself from another belt of flame, before Sylvanas' arrows cut the dragon's fire off, allowing her to move.

The dragon stopped moving its head for a moment and that's all Uther needed, he jumped into the air, raising Frostmourne above his head and slammed it down on Nefarian's crown, the dragon roared in pain, Uther struck it again, and jumped as Nefarian transformed back into his human guise, his face contorted with anger, his face drenched in blood from the wounds around his eyes and his head misshapen slightly from several forming lumps.

"The Alliance will pay for this!" Nefarian roared before vanishing instantaneously.

Sylvanas ran over and helped Jaina up before hurrying over to check on Uther, who lay sprawled on the ground by the main door.

"My lord! Are you alright?" Sylvanas asked as she rested his head in her lap, he stirred and opened his eyes slowly; Sylvanas kissed him on the forehead when she saw he was alright.

_-You Fool! You could have claimed his power for your own! He could have been a powerful servant to us!- _The voice raged in his mind.

"I'm, I'm alright." Uther said sitting up slowly and looking around the destroyed throne room, "I almost had it" he muttered.

"Almost had what?" Jaina asked gently, kneeling down to inspect him.

"A perfect agreement, there were a few confrontations to begin with, but we actually had a perfect balance idealised, I knew his silence wasn't good, dam it!" Uther exclaimed, looking over at Frostmourne, which had come lose and now lay a few feet away.

Suddenly the entire room shook; the sounds of rock shifting outside and a faint roar from below, the room began to crack as lava poured in.

"Ragnaros is enraged!" Uther exclaimed, "Jaina get us out of here!" he said scrambling to grab Frostmourne and his mace before the mage teleported the three of them out as it collapsed in on itself, engulfed in rock and lava. Uther opened his eyes to find them surrounded by white stone and glass, with wooden floor boards under them.

"Where are we?" Sylvanas asked looking around at the alien scene before her.

"Stormwind, again first place I thought of, we were sort of in a hurry" Jaina replied getting up slowly, before helping the others to their feet.

"Perfect!" Uther replied a smile on his face, the women looked at him confused, "we can get a ship from here back to Northrend" he explained, but Jaina and Sylvanas didn't look so sure.

"My lord we can't go running off to Northrend, with Nefarian seeking vengeance on the Alliance, we need to stay here and defend them from his rage." Sylvanas stated, her green eyes looking into his grey eyes longingly, Uther nodded solemnly in agreement.

"And there's no telling how Ragnaros will react either, I mean he just destroyed an entire city in an attempt to kill us, there's no telling what he'll do next." Jaina said placing a hand on Uther's shoulder.

"For now at least, I hope they fight over Blackrock Mountain, it'll give us time to prepare." Uther said, finalising their conversation, but their moment of peace was interrupted by a deafening, familiar roar, followed by several smaller roars that seemed further away.

"Out of the frying pan…" Jaina said looking at the others.

"_-Into the dragon fire!- _The Lich said gleefully, as Uther charged out of the building.


	16. Hell Hath No Fury

Hell Hath No Fury…

They stepped out into the Mage District of Stormwind, to see it burning, the once peaceful district was now in flames as innumerable Black dragons soaring overhead, burning everything they could see, whilst small hatchlings attacked the fleeing citizens running in fear.

"Well," Sylvanas said taking a deep breath, "we really irritated Nefarian; this has got to be his entire brood." But another deep roar, accompanied with several smaller ones to the west that corrected her.

"Make that the entirety of Nefarian and his sister's broods, they must have some sibling connection, that was triggered when he attacked us," Uther said as a black and purple scaled dragon swooped in overhead, smashing through the mage tower, followed by smaller, similar looking dragons. "Sylvanas! Get up on the wall and help the defenders shoot the smaller ones down." Uther turned and ordered the ranger who nodded and scurried up a building and out of sight.

"What about me?" Jaina asked, blasting a wall of arcane energy at several hatchlings that were harassing civilians.

"Keep doing what you're doing, defending citizens and helping with the relief efforts, I'm going to make sure the king is safe, and then deal with the two dragon siblings." Uther said as he made to move out of the district, but a black dragonkin crashed out of the sky, blocking his path, an arrow in its neck.

"She's good!" Jaina said, grabbing Uther's hand and dragging him in the other direction.

"You have no idea!" Uther replied, breaking off from her grip and charging down a side path as Jaina rushed to help citizens find somewhere to hide. Uther reached the canals and found a far worse sight, than that in the Mage District, here every building was burning, and he could see that the Cathedral spire was missing, his mind flashed back to Stratholme, and he cursed himself, it was its fault that this city was on fire, much like Stratholme, but now he could save it, he ran past screaming people and panicked soldiers, who rallied at seeing him, as he made for the Royal Keep.

When he ran through the gates he found the roof has collapsed, and once again Onyxia was closing in on the frightened king.

"Here we are again, little king" Onyxia growled at the boy who cowered before her dragon form, his bodyguards dead around him, "and this time, there is no one to save you." Onyxia took a deep breath in and Uther acted, charging up the spiked tail, which distracted her, "What?" she said, turning her head, destroying more of the royal palace, debris raining down around the king.

"You will fall" Uther screamed, unsheathing his mace and clinging on to her scaly back as she took off into the sky.

"You!" Onxyia screamed, recognising the voice, and the figure that had infuriated her brother, "you're supposed to be dead!" she said, thrashing in the sky, trying to shake Uther off her back, but only succeeding in dislodging his grip on his mace, which fell into the canal.

_-Use Frostmourne, you have no choice!-_ It yelled at him, he shook his head, he knew he had little options, but he didn't want to do it. He crawled up Onyxia's back as she flew in circles high above the city, clinging on tightly when she banked or barrel-rolled trying to get him off. When she ceased trying to tip him off and flew toward the north east, Uther took this as a moment to strike.

"Light forgive me!" he muttered as he unsheathed Frostmourne, before charging up her neck and plunging the sword into her head, Onyxia screamed, and Uther held on as she dived from the sky, toward the Burning Steppes. Onyxia's body crashed through the memorial to the Battle of Blackrock Spire, which threw Uther from her back, he crashed into an Orcish tent that softened most of his impact. Uther stood up slowly, and flexed his aching muscles, whilst the voice laughed.

_-Well done 'Lightbringer'. Now channel my power through Frostmourne and raise the Brood Mother to serve us!- _it whispered in his mind, trying to lure him over.

"Never!" Uther said, walking stiffly over to Onyxia's still form, "that would make me a monster! I have no say over life, death or undeath."

" _-Do it! You'll never survive what is to come unless you claim her power for your own.-" _The Lich said, making Uther raise Frostmourne over Onyxia's snout, which Uther then immediately lowered.

"There is always a way, other than using brute force, and numbers" Uther said slowly, looking around at the abandoned Orc camp, "wait, why are there any Orcs here?"

"_-The dragon has sent them in force to destroy you-_"it said pointing at the mountain, seeing the doors into the mountain ripped off their hinges.

"Aren't dragons enough?" Uther said despairingly.

"_-I doubt he has sent them to the humans, the dwarves are much closer and much harder to destroy from the air, you are outmatched!-"_ The Lich said raising Frostmourne over the dead brood mother again.

Uther yelled in frustration. "Dam you!" he yelled, and channelled his power of the Light through Frostmourne, which made the Lich scream in pain, Uther closed his eyes and tried to shut out the screams as he felt a connection growing between himself and the dragon. Moments passed before he felt the dragon stir, and he lowered Frostmourne, and opened his eyes, to see Onyxia doing the same, instead of fire, there was light glowing in her eyes.

"Master" she hissed, slowly standing up on her four legs, then she bowed to Uther.

"I am no master, I have brought you back to aid the Alliance, which is all I ask of you" he said slowly, as he climbed on to her back, with her help.

"I obey your will master!" She said cheerily, as she spread her wings and took off into the sky, Uther heard the Lich cursing in his head.

_-What have you done? I cannot feel her strength! I cannot touch her mind!-_

_I channelled my power through your sword, I didn't wield your power that you've put in my soul. I do not need you to save my allies. Your grip is slipping! _Uther thought as a reply, the Lich cursed more as Uther turned Onyxia to fly north.

"What about my brother?" Onyxia roared, Uther leaned forward to speak into her ear.

"We have to deal with his minions, my companions can deal with the brood and keep him distracted, and this won't take long!" Uther on the reborn Onyxia's back dived low into Dun Morogh, as they saw a column of Orcs marching almost unchallenged up the path to Ironforge. "Care to do the honours!" he yelled to Onxyia, who roared and breathed flame at the Orcs. Within minutes she had turned the entire army to ash, before landing in front of the city, Uther jumping off her back stopped the dwarves from attacking her.

"My lord?" a rifleman said running over to him, cautious of Onxyia's presence as she watched him suspiciously, "What was that? Why did you arrive on that?" the other guards ran forward, their axes poised to strike Onyxia.

"Stand down men; she's under my command now!" Uther said moving in front of the soldiers who were closing in on Onyxia. "Send word to the king; the Dark Iron are defeated, but Stormwind is under attack, they need as many riflemen as can be spared." Uther instructed, mounting Onyxia again, as an armed man came running out.

"Lord Uther, let me aid you!" Arthas yelled, his face filled with hope, but he froze at the sight of his former mentor on the back of a dragon.

"It's up to the king m'boy," Uther yelled back, as Onyxia flexed her wings, "if he says you can help, and then come with the riflemen, I have no say anymore." And before Arthas could say anymore, Onyxia took off, scattering the dwarves who had tried to contain her as she quickly banked and flew south.

"Master, it will take too long for them to march all the way to the city" Onyxia roared as Blackrock Mountain came into view again, "my brother will have razed the city before they are even close."

"I have faith they'll find a way, and it may surprise you the ingenuity of mortals to overcome the odds" Uther said smiling widely, he knew that they wouldn't disappoint him. When Stormwind came into sight, it didn't seem as grim as before, there were fewer dragons in the sky, and the city seemed to be coping with the fires. However Uther could see Dragonspawn in the streets below, and the flying dragons that remained were the largest in the Black dragonflight.

"Where's Nefarian?" Uther yelled, looking around, unable to see the main dragon.

"He's sitting by the entrance master!" Onyxia replied, hovering in midair and turning toward the Valley of Heroes.

"Of course he is, after him!" Uther ordered, Onyxia roared and dived toward the south. Nefarian quickly came into view, sitting on the bridge into the city; his wings had demolished the four statues that lined the bridge. As they drew closer Nefarian took flight, hovering at roof height, seeming to smile at the sight of his sister, Uther ducked behind her crown, "act natural, and let's see how long it takes him to realise." Uther chuckled to himself.

"My sister, how wonderful to see you" Nefarian said warmly as the two dragons drew level, "how goes the assault on the dwarves?"

"The orcs were destroyed dear brother" Onyxia roared, "the dwarves had not committed to the assault on the dark iron, the orcs were outnumbered." Nefarian roared in anger, breathing flame on the statue beneath Onyxia, the heat making it explode.

"They will pay for that!" Nefarian bellowed, Onxyia remained calm, hovering a safe distance over the city. "Once this city is nothing but ash, the dwarves will join their fate, and then the elves and the rest of the wretched Alliance will burn." He ranted, Uther listened and remained hidden, but a plan formed in his mind.

"Onyxia, move over him, then prepare to tip me off your back" he whispered in Onyxia's ear, "on my command." She obeyed, but as she drew closer Nefarian seemed to change his demeanour.

"There is something off about you sister, your scent is…" sudden realisation dawned on him far too late, "Noo, that monster will pay!"

"Now!" Uther said and Onyxia barrel-rolled over her brother and took off south, Uther dived on to Nefarian's back and clung on for dear life, as he once again was thrown around, by Nefarian who tried to get him off.

"You will die for what you did to her!" Nefarian roared as he flew back over the city, banking, rolling and thrashing, trying to get Uther off, but he clung on. Onyxia flew in behind him, and kept Nefarian moving away from the city, as dwarves poured out of a tunnel in the Old District, quickly taking down the dragonspawn, a tall blonde figure at the head.


	17. Like a God Scorned

…Like a God Scorned.

Uther lost track of how far the three had flown, as he held on to Nefarian, who tried to shake him off and keep away from his undead sister, who stayed close behind. Uther felt an opportunity and took it, he jumped up Nefarian's back and slashed at Nefarian's wing, the dragon roared and dropped out of the sky, Uther held on as Nefarian crashed through the mountain below, and through numerous levels, Uther kept his eyes closed as the dragon roared in agony as its body smashed down through the mountain.

"Hold on master!" Onyxia roared for somewhere above, but he focused on keeping his grip on the falling dragon beneath him. After a moment he heard Onyxia roar in fear, "Jump master, quick!" Uther trusted her and clutched Frostmourne in his hand and jumped, he felt Onyxia grab him with her claws and his descent slowed, his eyes opened slowly, seeing familiar architecture he looked around.

"Back here again" he muttered, seeing the ruined remains of Blackrock Depths, he looked up and saw that they had crashed through the Spire, he looked down and saw Nefarian still falling through the city, "take us down!" Onyxia obeyed and they slowly descended through the wreckage. Nefarian smashed through the final layer of rock, Onyxia followed closely behind and landed on a small outcrop of rock, as Nefarian was engulfed by lava.

"No!" Nefarian yelled, trying to get his footing on the rocky outcrop and pull himself out of the lava. "I'll get you for this!" Before Nefarian could pull himself out, a giant hand, made of pure fire, reached out of the lava and dragged Nefarian under.

"What was that master?" Onyxia asked receding slightly at the sight.

"Get out of here!" Uther yelled, "I'll deal with this, I'll be fine!" Onyxia hesitated before taking flight and flying out of the hole, as Ragnaros burst forth from the lava, his head blocking the hole after Onyxia had cleared it.

"WHO DARES DISTURB RAGNAROS, LORD OF FIRE!" it roared as it rose from the lava lake, its eyes fixed on Uther standing alone and it laughed, the echoes bouncing off the circular walls. "PUNY MORTAL! YOU DARE TO STAND AGAINST ME ALONE?" it mocked, but Uther stood his ground.

"I defeated your minions, and destroyed the Dark Iron servants, I survived your attempt to kill me and my companions, and I have slain two powerful dragons. I am not afraid of you!" Uther yelled, readying Frostmourne in his hands, his mace still lay at the bottom of the Stormwind canals.

"BY FIRE BE PURGED!" Ragnaros shouted, and a tunnel of flame enveloped him, Uther knelt behind the sword and called upon the Light to protect him, as the flames surrounded him. Ragnaros laughed when the flames vanished, to reveal Uther still standing, his armour glowing and his cape aflame. Lava began to pour down through the hole above the fire lord, and he made it cool instantly, solidifying into rock, that cut off his escape route.

_-The Light cannot save you here, use my power, summon the ghosts of the Depths to your aid.- _it whispered in his mind, but Uther ignored it.

"I am a Paladin of The Silver Hand, Knight of Lordaeron, General of the Alliance; I do not need unholy power to defeat this foe." Uther said standing his ground as Ragnaros summoned his mace.

_-Shame you don't have your mace 'Lightbringer'-_ it mocked as Ragnaros raised his mace.

"TASTE THE FLAMES OF SULFURON!" Ragnaros yelled as he slammed the mace down on Uther, who miraculously managed to parry it with Frostmourne. Ragnaros bellowed his frustration as his mace failed to squash the gnat; he then sunk into the lava, "COME FORTH MY SERVANTS! DEFEND YOUR MASTER!" several small fire lords appeared and charged at Uther, who quickly cut them down, but more rushed at him.

_-Your outnumbered, summon the dead!-_ It urged demandingly. Uther continued to slice through the flame spawns that attacked him, and then Ragnaros burst forth again, fuming with rage.

"DIE INSECT!" Ragnaros shouted as he blasted Uther with flames with one hand, and struck at Uther with his mace with the other.

_Now!_ He thought, and the ghosts of the Dwarven nation flooded into the chamber, led by Franclorn and the Seven, they instantly moved to defend their lord, forming an ethereal shield that absorbed the fire. At the same time Onyxia burst through the ceiling and grabbed Sulfuras before Ragnaros could strike with it, and flew off again through the ceiling, Ragnaros bellowed with rage, sending a column of fire and lava after the dragon.

"Stand down fire lord!" Uther yelled, regaining the angry god's attention, "I am more than a match for you, stand down unless you wish to be sent back to the elemental plane." Ragnaros laughed.

"I AM A GOD! YOU ARE A MERE MORTAL! I WILL NOT BOW TO YOU!" Ragnaros yelled, raising his arms above his head, the lava lake began to rise, once again Onyxia soared into the room, swooping low she picked Uther up with her claws and away from the rising lava.

Ragnaros yelled in rage at the trick, and flailed wildly trying to knock Onyxia out of the air, which avoided his blows and slowly rose higher and higher before shooting out the hole, followed closely by Ragnaros, rising on the lake of lava. As Uther and Onyxia burst out the top, the entire mountain erupted into life, lava pouring out the doors that once allowed entrance, and Ragnaros himself appeared at the top, his form anchored in the mouth of the exploding volcano.

Onyxia rolled over and Uther dropped on to her back, and quickly settled himself at the base of her neck, "thank you for the timely save my dear" Uther said patting her scales, to which she purred slightly.

"Thank you master, there is still the matter of the enraged fire lord." She said turning so they flew back towards the volcanic mountain, and the god that sat atop it.

"I do not know, but I fear I'll have to wield the ghosts of the mountain to defeat him." Uther said, looking over his shoulder to where Frostmourne was strapped to his back with concern.

"Is there no other way?" Onyxia roared, avoiding a flaming rock hurled by Ragnaros.

"Not with such little time" Uther yelled as the god roared its anger, "if I don't deal with it now, that lava will pour into Redridge, I…" Uther was interrupted by a sound from the south.

"Are we too late for the party?" Arthas yelled as he soared past on the back of a Gryphon, followed by Sylvanas, Jaina and several Stormwind knights also riding gryphons.

"Wondered if you'd catch up" Uther yelled as the gryphons fell in line behind Onyxia, "but this will not be enough!" Uther yelled as the gryphon-riders began firing at Ragnaros.

"We have that in-hand my Lord" Sylvanas said as her gryphon soared over Onyxia's back, Uther looked around and saw at least fifty small figures dotted against the night's sky. as they drew close he saw Wildhammer dwarves on gryphnons, flanked by Gnomes in their flying machines, they quickly joined the aerial fight, circling the volcano, and the gnomes dropping bombs at the base of the raging god.

-_It's not enough!-_ the voice whispered in his mind, Uther growled and commanded Onyxia to dive toward the base of the volcano, where she had dropped the god's mace. Onyxia understood and clasped its handle with her claws, and took off into the sky as a fiery hand tried to claim it moments later.

"Circle around and swoop in low over its head!" he yelled into her ear, as she avoided more flaming rocks sent by Ragnaros. Uther unsheathed Frostmourne and pointed it at the base of the mountain, channelling his power through it. The voice screamed in rage as Frostmourne began to glow gold, and the gold tinted ghosts of the mountain began to swirl up from where Uther had pointed, quickly attacking the god from below, as the flying troops pestered it from above.

_-What are you doing?- _It yelled at him as he sheathed Frostmourne again, lining Onyxia up for a bombing run of sorts, using the mace. Uther pointed and Onyxia soared toward Ragnaros, the mace dangling upside down from her front claws.

"Aim for his head" Uther yelled, Onyxia nodded and changed her altitude as they drew closer. Ragnaros noticed too late the oncoming attack and was hit full force in the face by Sulfuras, the god swayed with the blow and the ghosts and gryphons took advantage, soaring in and forcing the god to retreat back into the mountain, Uther made Onyxia turn sharply and soar back over the volcano. "Drop the hammer on top of him, a final insult." Uther said and Onyxia obeyed, releasing her grip, letting the mace fall into the volcano after its owner, plugging it instantly.

"Rally!" Uther yelled and the surviving gryphon and flying machine riders, with Arthas, Jaina and Sylvanas rallied close behind him, as he turned and flew toward Ironforge, as the aptly named Cauldron filled with lava below them, the mountain still rumbling with anger.

"Impressive work Uther!" Arthas yelled from behind him.

"Thanks m'boy!" Uther yelled back, "all in a day's work for…argh!" Suddenly Uther, Sylvanas and Onyxia roared in pain and fell from the sky, Sylvanas falling from her mount and blacking out as she fell, Uther and Onyxia following quickly behind her.

_-Danger draws near! Power is fading. Time is running out!- _Uther heard as he blacked out, the wind rushing past as he fell.


	18. My Name is Legion

My Name is Legion…

Uther opened his eyes, but saw nothing but white and felt cold, it was only a movement from somewhere near his head that made him sit up. He was in the center of a snow bank; he recognised it immediately as Dun Morogh, though he did not know whereabouts exactly. He stood up slowly and saw he had landed near a large frozen lake; he felt stiff and tried to flex his muscles, but found his armour restricted his movement, the heat of Ragnaros contrasting with the cold of Dun Morogh had flash-fused it to his parts of his body.

Uther looked around, inspecting his surroundings more closely, he saw the lake had recently frozen over, and that not far from where he lay was a dead gryphon impaled on a tree, and his mind flashed back to the last things he could remember before he blacked out. _He had been flying to Ironforge after silencing the rage of the fire lord; he had heard the voice say something about danger to its power, then he had blacked out._

He walked calmly out of the snow bank, realising immediately how restrictive his movements were now, he spotted Frostmourne embedded in a rock and walked over to it. His path was changed when he spotted Sylvanas lying by the gryphon-impaled tree, he changed course and jogged over to help her, as she began to stir.

"My lord?" she said hazily as he stood over her, his fused armour prevented him from bending down to help her, "what happened?" she asked as she slowly stood up.

"I do not know my dear; my memory is hazy at best." Uther said, looking around at the calm chaos that surrounded them.

"Are you alright?" Sylvanas asked, noting the pained expression on his face.

"No, my armour has fused to my body, my mace is at the bottom of the canal, and Onyxia is…Onyxia!" he suddenly remembered his faithful recent follower, that he had forced to his will; he looked around wildly but could not see her.

"My lord, shall I try to relieve the strain on your body?" Sylvanas asked gently, as she unsheathed one of her daggers.

"Alright, but please be careful" Uther said, still looking around for his dragon follower, as Sylvanas started a small fire at her feet and helped him to sit down, using the fire to heat up her dagger and slowly separate Uther's armour from his body. When she had managed to free his torso after a good hour of careful dagger work, she flung the ruined armour away and gently cut into the leg mail, Uther continued to look around, unable to see Onyxia.

"Where is she?" Uther said despairingly as Sylvanas managed to separate the right leg of his armour from his body, throwing it to join the rest of the ruined armour.

"I do not know my lord, I blacked out and woke up in that snow bank, I do not know what happened to the gryphon I was riding." Sylvanas said in a melodic tone, as she expertly manoeuvred her blade between the armour and Uther's flesh, any cuts were instantly cauterized by her heated dagger.

"Your gryphon is above us" Uther said pointing up at the dead gryphon, "I'm surprised you didn't smell it." Sylvanas looked up and gasped in shock.

"Poor thing!" Sylvanas whispered.

"What happened to our backup?" Uther said hesitantly, they couldn't have ignored him and Sylvanas falling from the sky.

"Must have gone to Ironforge, I'm sure they'll be here momentarily" Sylvanas said re-assuredly, as she separated the last piece of fused armour and threw it to join the rest, Uther was now completely naked, Sylvanas blushed and handed him her cape, he wrapped it round his waist like a towel and stood up.

"Well we can return to them sooner if we find Onyxia, where could she…" Uther said as it dawned on him, his eyes darted to the recently frozen lake, and he walked slowly over, his fresh wounds aching in the cold air. He reached the shore and peered in, deep below the icy surface he saw Onyxia still and unmoving on the lake bed.

"Is she dead?" Sylvanas asked seeing the trapped, unmoving dragon.

"She's been dead since I killed her in Burning Steppes, but I don't know, she might be trapped and preserved in the ice." Uther said, looking over the surface of the lake.

"Can you bring her back?" Sylvanas asked a slightly motherly tone in her voice.

"I can try." Uther said kneeling down, placing his splayed hands on the surface of the lake, and concentrated, the voice was unusually silent as he focused his power on the dragon, moments passed in silence, before Uther felt the dragon stir.

"She alive?" Sylvanas asked as Uther stood up and turned to face her.

"Ask her yourself" Uther said cheerfully as the ice exploded behind him, Onyxia's claw digging into the bank, as she pulled herself out of the ice, and stood next to Uther on the shore of the lake, shaking off the ice that clung to her body.

"Thank you master!" Onyxia growled as she settled down on the shore, recovering from the cold lake.

"Thank Sylvanas as well, seems she didn't like the idea of you being at the bottom of the lake, I thought you'd be at peace." Uther said, walking over and pulling Frostmourne from the stone.

"What can I say, I like there being another woman around, even if she's a dragon." Sylvanas said cheerily, patting Onyxia's snout affectionately, which made the dragon purr.

"I was at peace master, but the chance to help you again was too much to resist." Onyxia said spreading her wings.

"And I fear we may require your aid again soon, I…argh" Uther clutched his head, Sylvanas and Onyxia looked on concerned.

_-It is I, the Lich King. Danger draws near the Frozen Throne! You must return to Northrend immediately! Obey!-_

When Uther opened his eyes he was kneeling in the snow, his hands clutching his head, and Sylvanas was kneeling close to him, holding him in her arms.

"Did you not hear it?" Uther said looking into her green eyes with worried confusion.

"No milord it has been silent for me recently, why?" Sylvanas replied as she helped him to his feet.

"It caused us to black out; it's telling me to return to Northrend, saying something is threatening its power." Uther said, climbing on to Onyxia's back and then helping Sylvanas to climb on behind him. "To Stormwind!" Uther commanded and Onyxia took off.

"Wait, what about the others at Ironforge?" Sylvanas asked as Onyxia climbed higher and higher, as she flew south.

"They'll work it out, we'd be wasting time if we went there first, we'll get supplies and a ship from Stormwind straight to Northrend, if they want to join us, they'll need to hurry." Uther explained to Sylvanas as they soared past the mountain again, still rumbling, but the mace was still plugging the mouth.

"Are you okay?" Sylvanas asked after a moment of silence.

"Apart from the sores from where my armour fused to me, no I'm physically fine" Uther chuckled.

"I did my best" she replied apologetically, "and what about your mind?"

"I do not know, it's been quieter since the battle with Ragnaros, only speaking when he's begging me for help." Uther said as Stormwind came into view again, still smouldering from the dragon's attack.

"Where should I land master?" Onyxia asked, spotting the city guard readying for her approach.

"Don't land!" Uther yelled, and she pulled up from her dive, "swoop in over the lake, and we'll jump, we won't risk them killing you by mistake!" Onyxia swerved and banked over the keep, Sylvanas and Uther jumped and fell toward the large lake north of the keep, hitting the lake moments later.

"Good idea!" Sylvanas spluttered as they resurfaced, Uther smiled and together they swam toward the ruined Cathedral, resting on the graveyard shore, as a soldier ran over.

"Milord?" he asked hesitantly, seeing the famous paladin almost completely naked, next to an elf, "why were you riding that beast?"

"It's complicated, but she's no longer a threat, send word and let her land." Uther ordered and the soldier hesitated before nodding and scurrying away. Sylvanas stood and dried herself off as best she could, before helping Uther stand.

"What are we going to do about your armour, or lack thereof?" Sylvanas asked as Uther clung to her cape that was miraculously still wrapped around his waist.

"There should be a suit of armour that'll fit me in the Cathedral, come on!" Uther said grabbing her wrist and dragging her off toward the front of the cathedral, they hurried up the stairs, getting a few odd looks from people they passed. Inside the Cathedral was a refugee camp, for people who had been made homeless by the recent attack, but the roof was broken and missing in places, the spire was lying across the central carpet.

"Lord Uther?!" a man yelled running over to them, it took a moment for Uther to recognise Bishop Farthing, who he then greeted warmly, "What are you doing here?" the Bishop asked quickly.

"As you can see, I need a new set of armour; I thought there would be a set stored here." Uther said cheerily.

"You were correct in your assumption my lord, I can have a choir boy retrieve it, please wait here." Farthing wandered over to a small room and leant in, a second later a small boy ran across the room, over the ruins of the spire and down a tunnel on the far side; Uther and Sylvanas moved over and sat down on one of the surviving pews. Uther lost track of how much time passed, as he and Sylvanas watched the refugees being cared to by the priests and paladins, Uther's mind soon drifted out of the building, only to be brought back down by a small voice.

"Here you go milord." The boy said an hour or so later, from behind a large crate.

"Well done lad, we'll take it from here" Uther said patting the boy on the head, he nodded timidly and scurried off again, Sylvanas picked up the crate effortlessly and followed Uther across the hall, he walked into the bell tower, and locked the door after Sylvanas dropped the crate off inside, letting him change in private. Half an hour later, Uther emerged from the bell tower, donned in a glowing gold set of armour, which perfectly symbolised him as a follower of the Light.

"Impressive my lord!" Sylvanas said in awe of the beauty of the armour.

"Thanks, I feel it was made for Lord Fordring, as it's slightly baggy in places, but it'll do." Uther replied smiling, as he sheathed Frostmourne on his back, he heard a faint scream of pain in his head.

_-You mock me with this armour!-_

"Let's go get my mace" Uther said beaming, again dragging they unprepared Sylvanas out of the Cathedral, only letting her run of her own accord when they were out of the building.

"Do you know where exactly it is?" Sylvanas asked, managing to keep up with Uther.

"Somewhere near the Keep, odds are it's in the canal itself" he replied, as they jogged out on to the canal itself, seeing now that the heat of the fires had evaporated the canal water. "That'll make it easier!" he said happily. He quickly found it, on the bed of the canal, just outside the Keep.

"How do we get to it?" Sylvanas said flatly, seeing that the bed as quite far down, Uther grumbled and started searching the nearby boxes, which some soldier had left there, quickly finding a rope in one of them.

"Tie this to that lamp" Uther ordered Sylvanas who complied, Uther abseiled down the side, landing with a thump on the bed and walking over to the mace, which lay on its side. Uther felt his strength grow when he clasped its handle again, but it didn't budge when he tried to lift it.

_-How fitting, it's stuck at the bottom of an empty trench, just like your faith in the Light!-_

"Silence!" Uther roared, as he struggled to lift his mace from off the canal bed.

"What's wrong my lord?" Sylvanas asked sitting on the edge of the dried-up canal.

"It's stuck, and the voice is tormenting me" Uther replied in a frustrated voice.

"The heat that evaporated the water, could have fused it to the bed, it's not going to budge, I'm sorry." Uther stood up, a mixture of rage and despair swirling inside him, at the loss of his trusty weapon.

"I know my dear, but doesn't mean I like it" Uther said sadly, as he climbed out and stood next to her looking back at his old weapon. Several moments of remembrance passed as Uther stared longingly at his trapped weapon, which had seen him through many dangers, and couldn't help him now in an hour of need.

"Let us summon Onyxia, shall we." Uther slowly, after what felt like an eternity to Sylvanas, he gestured to the lake that they had crash landed in, they walked arm in arm back to that lake as Onyxia swooped in and landed on an island in the middle of the lake. Before Uther and Sylvanas could move closer to the dragon, a familiar figure to Uther appeared on the surface of the lake between them in a blaze of green fire.

"Greetings Lightbringer" the dreadlord said warmly, Uther and Sylvanas tensed, whilst Onyxia remained quiet.

_-Kill him, he serves them. Make them fear us!- _It hissed in his mind.

"Mal'Ganis?" Uther exclaimed at seeing him again, "didn't I kill you in Northrend." The demon chuckled.

"No, Like Mal'Ganis I AM a Dreadlord, but I am here to make a deal, not oppose you as he did" it said slowly. "My name is Detheroc" it said bowing

"Deal? What deal could you possibly wish to make with me?" Uther asked, his hand subconsciously moving nearer to Frostmourne's hilt.

"By now your 'friend' has probably sensed danger, and is ordering you to defend him…" Detheroc began slowly.

"What of it?" Sylvanas cut in, the demon visibly tensed at being interrupted.

"For your sake…" it continued, "I would not bother, just remain here and let us rid the world of it for you."

_-If they kill me, you and she will die!-_

"Wont doing that kill us?" Uther said, acting on its words.

"Possibly," the demon said smiling, "but if you interfere, you will certainly die, or you can aid us?"

"How?" Uther asked immediately.

"Complete what it couldn't, and your lives will be spared" Detheroc said bluntly.

"Complete what exactly?" Sylvanas asked, both her and Uther took a step back.

"Complete the plan set in motion years ago, for the return of the Burning Legion." Detheroc said, his confidence growing.

"Never!" Uther said defiantly, the demon laughed.

"You only have two choices, help the Legion return, or stay out of our way!" the demon bellowed, growing slightly in size.

"Or I kill you, stop your 'Legion' in Northrend, and destroy it myself," Uther said quickly, not really thinking it through, his head turned toward Sylvanas, but his eyes looked past the demon, "my dear, would you kindly deal with this annoyance" Uther said politely, Sylvanas loaded her bow and fired in the blink of an eye, the demon deflected it and laughed.

"Your puny weapons cannot kill me, you were foolish to try!" Detheroc cackled at them.

"She wasn't the only 'dear' I was talking to…" Uther said as he and Sylvanas took another step back. Before the demon could react Onyxia blasted him with fire, vaporizing him instantly.

"The Legion will remember this!" Detheroc yelled as it was turned to ash.

"Good work my pet" Sylvanas and Uther said in unison, Onyxia seemed to smile at the praise.

_-If you dare sail to Northrend with the intent to destroy me... I will set all of Northrend against you!- _the voice bellowed in his head.

To Be Continued…

-AN-

- _This version of Stormwind is the WotLK version, with the dock and the Park, incase you were wondering. (Rather appropriate.)_

_- The armour he is now wearing is the classic Tirion Fordring armour, with the glowing shoulder plates, i.e. pre Icecrown Citadel_

_- I was going to have Archbishop Benedictus be the one they meet in the Cathedral, but given the Twilight connection, I decided not to include him._

_- There will be several fan favorite characters appearing in the next chapter, all will have reason to be here._


	19. For We Are Many

…For We Are Many.

It took a three says for Uther to gather the provisions he needed for the venture back to Northrend, in that time they had managed to pry his mace off the canal bed, but it didn't feel the same, the heat had melted the intricate decals that had empowered it, and changed the overall weight of the weapon, Uther left it to the Cathedral attendants to put it somewhere safe. Arthas, Jaina, and Muradin arrived the next day from Ironforge, they quickly aided in preparing a ship for the journey north, Uther had also, rather begrudgingly summoned the souls of the mountain into Frostmourne, holding them there in case they were needed in the north.

On the day of departure, Muradin, Jaina, Arthas, Sylvanas, and Uther stood in front of the ship, with Onyxia in her mortal form next to Uther, as the leaders of the Alliance bid them farewell. Word had reached them of how important this venture was, Terenas had even journeyed down from Lordaeron to bid them farewell.

"…We realise how important this venture is, and the people of Lordaeron wish you the best." Terenas said as he shook the adventurers' hands, and kissed the ladies on the cheek.

"As do the peoples of Khaz Modan, and though she won't admit it…" Magni said stepping forward and doing the same as Terenas, "she's grateful you saved her from Thaurissan's grip." Uther smiled weakly.

"I would like to thank you for saving my life from the mean old dragon" the young boy king said timidly, as one of his advisers nudged him forward, to shake hands with each of them, Jaina bent down and kissed him on the forehead, making him glow red and retreat into her adviser's legs.

"Thank you, all of you for this!" Uther said proudly stepping forward, "we don't know what we will face in the frozen land, but these provisions will help us with our quest." The royal entourage bowed to the adventurers as they boarded one by one, before Uther could board however, Moira stepped forward from behind her father, clutching something in her arms.

"My lord wait" she said quickly, grabbing his attention as the rest of the royal entourage disbanded, and headed up into the city, "I am grateful for what you did, though it has taken time for me to realise it. If nothing else, my flight to Thaurissan made him realise how badly he had treated me." Uther knelt down to look her in the eye.

"I'm glad to hear it, there should never be tension between parents and their children, it only causes problems, and I'm glad that the differences between you and Magni did not fester into something darker." Uther said resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Right." She said looking away, before remembering why she had stepped forward. "When we heard that you had lost your holy mace, I had the smithies craft this in its stead." Moira quickly peeled away the cloth covering it to reveal a full length sword, etched with Dwarvish runes and inscribed down the fuller with holy symbols. The sword glowed faintly when Uther grasped the ram's horn ivory grip; he raised it above his head and focused his holy might into it, making it glow fiercely, before he sheathed it over his other shoulder to Frostmourne, the voice cursing it.

"Thank you Moira, please thank the blacksmiths who made it in such a limited time frame, I'm sure it'll serve me well." Uther said kissing the princess on the hand and boarding the boat, as it began to set off, the princess waved them off before the boat disappeared into the morning mist. As the Eastern Kingdoms land mass vanished from the horizon, all attention was focused on the north, Uther took his companions below deck into the captain's cabin where a vague map of the target land had been laid out.

"As Muradin and Arthas are the only other people that have been to Northrend, I think it best to brief the others on what to expect." Uther said as they gathered around the map.

"My brother spoke once of a temple to the Dragonflights in a land to the north, where the queen of the Red Dragonflight resides, watching over the numerous shrines to the dragon aspects." Onyxia said in a dream-like state, gazing at the crescent landmass portrayed on the map.

"M'boys did spot a tower west of the basecamp we made, but we didn't venture near as it was surrounded by vicious wildlife and vast wasteland, we had enough trouble with the undead." Muradin said pointing at the area he described.

"Would she help us?" Jaina asked looking at Onyxia who shrugged.

"Alexstrasza and the Black Dragonflight is a delicate issue," Uther said quickly, "if she were to help us, we would really have to be desperate and make sure it was worth her time."

"What forces do the Legion have at their disposal?" Arthas asked, pacing back and forth by the door.

"Probably a small elite strike force, they won't have the numbers as we destroyed the Dark Portal in the last war, but whatever they have will die trying to stop us to achieve their goal."

"And what is their goal?" Muradin asked a note of contempt in his voice.

"To destroy the Lich at its source, a place called the Frozen Throne, though I don't know where exactly that is, the Lich isn't telling me at this time." Uther said sighing heavily. "In case I try to destroy it instead."

"But isn't that a good thing, don't we want to destroy it?" Arthas asked, confused by the turn of events.

"If they destroy it, it'll kill me and Sylvanas, until we find a way to prevent that, we must stop the Legion from succeeding." Uther said quickly, trying to keep the conversation focused. "But for that we need to focus on finding their main base, destroying it, and then destroying any stragglers that try to get to the Throne."

"How are we going to do that, if we don't know where the Legion will be going?" Sylvanas said withdrawing a dagger, an idea formed in Uther's mind, and he took the dagger from Sylvanas and held it over the map.

_Tell me roughly where the Frozen Throne is, if you don't I can't help you. _Uther thought, he heard the voice growl and felt it seize control of his dagger-holding arm, stabbing it into the left side of the map, _Thank You._

_-If you seek me out with the intention to destroy, I will unleash the undead armies that await you in the frozen wastes!- _It hissed at him.

"Well, that's a rough start," Uther said looking at where the dagger had landed, "Jaina, go inform the captain of the course change." She nodded and scurried out the room; moments later they heard yelling and increased movement above.

"All hands, man your stations!" they heard someone yell, Uther lead the others as they charged on to the deck, seeing an alien-looking vessel sailing towards them. "Ready the guns!" the captain yelled.

"Belay that!" Jaina yelled as the boat drew closer, Onyxia tensed but Uther put a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy girl. Only transform if they open hostilities, not before." Uther said calmly, looking into her gold human eyes, she nodded and relaxed at his touch.

"Jaina, who are they?" Arthas yelled to her, as she stood by the wheel.

"Friends of mine, they mean us no harm!" Jaina yelled back as the strange boat pulled alongside, its crew quickly throwing ropes to Uther's crew, who tied their ships together, and two tall figures leapt aboard, Jaina hurried to re-join Uther.

"Greetings humans" an elegant, slender purple-skinned elf said bowing to them, "I am Tyrande Whisperwind, leader of the Night Elves, and I have brought people to aid you on your quest." She said in a dainty voice, only greeting Jaina with real affection, "my dear Proudmoore, it's nice to see you again so soon" she said as she hugged the young mage.

"And you priestess, though I am surprised to see you here, how did you hear of our quest?" Jaina asked as they parted.

"Word travels fast my dear, and any news of the Burning Legion having a foothold here is something my people must prevent, i left Fandral to ready a defence incase the legion spread out." Her tone softened when she spotted the others, who were watching her with fascination, "now why don't you introduce me to your friends and I'll show you who's accompanied me."

Jaina bowed slightly and began to introduce the others to the priestess, "this is Lord Uther of Lordaeron, often called the 'Lightbringer', he's a paladin of The Silver Hand, and the leader of this expedition." Uther bowed and kissed the priestess' hand.

"Greetings priestess, I hope that this expedition will further improve relations between our people." He said politely, the priestess nodded and the introductions continued, until Sylvanas and Onyxia were left.

"Ah a fellow elf, though you seem or fairer complexion than my kin" Tyrande said as she met Sylvanas, who curtseyed slightly.

"Indeed, I am Sylvanas Windrunner, former Ranger of Silvermoon City, home of the High Elves, we have not forgotten out night kin my lady" Sylvanas said as they kissed each other once on the cheek.

"Indeed, we have not forgotten your people either, and who is…" Tyrande froze when she laid eyes on Onyxia. "There is something off about you my dear, you appear human, but there is something more primal about you." Onyxia looked nervously at Uther who quickly stood at her side for support.

"This is Onyxia, she's a former Black dragon, resurrected, she now serves me willingly" Uther said, Tyrande eyed her with suspicion before extending a hand, and her and Onyxia shook tentatively.

"An interesting addition to your company, I look forward to working with you all, now let me introduce my companions…" Tyrande said warmly as two cloaked figures appeared on the deck of her ship, and quickly boarded Uther's. "May I introduce Hamuul Runetotem, head druid for the Tauren people" she said as the taller, broader of the two lowered his hood and bowed before the others, "and Thrall, son of Durotan, Warchief of the Horde." Before he could remove his hood, Uther, Muradin and Arthas had instinctively drawn their weapons at the mention of the Horde.

"No wait" Jaina yelled, standing between them and Thrall, who removed his hood, "He's not like the other Orcs, he and his people fled west to get away from the Blackrock Orcs and the Alliance, please, he's a friend." At Jaina's pleading they sheathed their weapons and greeted Thrall and Hamuul warmly.

"A chance to face the demons that turned my people into mindless beasts" Thrall growled, "was an opportunity to good to miss, and to fight alongside Jaina, who proved herself a friend to my people." Thrall said kissing Jaina's hand, making her blush.

"Well then, lets continue on our way" Uther said as the ties between their two ships were cut, and the elven ship turned around and back the way it came, as they sailed on, "we best find you some accommodation, it's still a long journey." Uther showed them below deck and they all settled in for the remainder of the journey, Tyrande, Uther and Thrall beguiling people of tales of their people's experiences with the Burning Legion, and Hamuul told of his cousins that supposedly lived in the northern isle.

They were broken from their revelry by the familiar call of 'Land Ho!' and all eight rushed up on deck full of hope, only for it to be stolen away by the cold wind, at the sight that lay before them. Along the shore were numerous Fel-cannons, controlled by demons, and behind them was a heavily defended encampment, with a portal at the center, from which demons flooded out.

"Things just got interesting." Muradin said at the fearsome sight before them, then the fel-cannons began firing at them, and things quickly deteriorated.


	20. Reaching An Accord

Reaching an Accord.

"Everybody get down!" Arthas yelled as the fiery green cannon balls flew toward them, everyone hit the deck and the cannonballs missed by millimetres.

"Turn this ship around, head east toward the original encampment!" Uther yelled as another volley just missed the prow of the ship, the captain nodded and the ship began to turn.

"We're sitting ducks here!" Muradin yelled as another volley missed, but one stray cannonball ploughed through the deck, sparking a small fire upon contact, Jaina summoned a water elemental to put it out.

"Hamuul, give us some cover!" Thrall roared and the Tauren nodded, chanting in an unknown language, as a cloud of mist rose to hide them from the cannons whilst they sailed out of range. Once clear everyone stood up again.

"Thank you Hamuul, you saved our lives!" Arthas said patting the shaman on the back.

"The Earthmother watches over us, and guides those who listen" he said proudly. They returned below deck until the ship docked at the camp Arthas had made on the previous expedition, where they quickly dispatched the wildlife that had occupied the camp, and set about restoring it to working order, which primarily meant moving stone from the encampment further inland, to the costal base, this labour took the rest of the day to complete.

When they woke the next day, they found another Dreadlord waiting for them.

"Ah Lightbringer, you did come to stop us, how noble of you" the purple dreadlord said laughing as Uther walked to the edge of the camp in front of the dreadlord, the other seven fell in behind him, flanking him as he confronted the demon.

"How do you know we aren't here to aid you?" Uther chuckled, but the demon wasn't falling for it.

"Because you have allied with Night Elves, our ancient enemies, you wouldn't have them with you if you were here to help, but it matters not, we are too strong for you to defeat, your precious Lich is finished!" and with that the Dreadlord vanished in a burst of purple flames, and Uther wheeled around to face his companions.

"We have to deal with their base now! Before they have time to mobilize." Uther ordered quickly, but the others seemed hesitant.

"Great!" Muradin said, "But how? We number only eight, we didn't bring soldiers because we thought it would only be a strike force, we don't have an army."

"Yes we do" Uther said unsheathing Frostmourne, and stabbing it into the ground, making numerous ghosts appear around them, only Uther, Jaina, Sylvanas and Onyxia didn't jump with surprise at the sight.

"What magic is this?" Thrall said unsheathing his maces.

"Hold Warchief" Uther said, "They are under my control; they will harm no one without my command." Thrall took a moment before sheathing his weapons as Uther dismissed them.

"They will not be enough to defeat the Burning Legion" Tyrande said, a hint of disappointment in her voice, "we'll need more to defeat them at their basecamp to the west."

"There are no others who can aid us, we…" Arthas yelled at the elf in frustration, but his yell was interrupted by a rumble underneath them. Moments later a gigantic insect burst through the ground behind Uther, everyone unsheathed their weapons and readied themselves for battle, Onyxia's wings appeared on her mortal guise's back, but the insect spoke as it turned to face them.

"Calm yourselves!" It said in a rattling voice, "I was told to expect you 'Lightbringer'" it said bowing before Uther.

"By who?" Uther said pointing his new sword toward the creature.

"The Lich King." It said calmly. "But I have been warned that if you try to destroy our master, that we must kill your friends, and then you!" a hint of menace etched its voice.

"How many of you are there?" Arthas asked, drawing level with Uther.

"Our number is beyond count, and we rule the kingdom below Northrend, we will aid you in destroying the demonic infestation." The creature stated proudly in its rattling voice. Uther sheathed his swords and the others followed suit.

"Alright, we'll ally with you, what do we call you?" Uther asked stepping closer to the creature.

"I am Anub'arak, King of Azjol-Nerub, at your service." It said bowing to Uther, who smiled as a plan began to form in his mind.

"Alright then, do any of your tunnels run past a dragon stronghold?" Uther asked. The mention of the stronghold made Anub'arak recoil.

"We dare not, what business do you seek with them?" it asked, still keeping its distance, now noticing Onyxia's wings before they disappeared again.

"Then I'll find my own way there, wait here." Uther commanded as he walked back and took Onyxia to the edge of the camp. "Care to give me a lift my dear?" he asked her politely, she smiled and he took a few steps back to let her transform. Once she was back in her dragon form he climbed on her back and yelled to the others "Don't do anything until I return," Before Onyxia took off, heading north-west.

"Master" Onyxia said nervously as a golden tower became visible on the horizon, "they will not welcome me warmly; they will suspect I am working for my father Deathwing. We should land nearby, and then continue on foot."

"Good idea." Uther said patting her on the head as several large red dragons came into view, circling the top of the tower. Onyxia landed a several hundred metres from the tower and transformed into her mortal guise, and together they walked the remainder of the journey, before a humanoid dragon stopped them at the steps.

"Halt!" It hissed angrily at them, clearly not fooled by Onyxia's mortal guise. "State your business, and why you have brought an enemy with you."

Uther bowed slightly before speaking, "I seek an audience with the dragon queen, and my companion is no longer a follower of Deathwing." But the dragonkin was not fooled easily.

"What proof do you have that SHE is not one of his ilk?" it hissed, eyeing Onyxia with suspicion, Uther simply smiled as Onyxia clung to him.

"There is the fact that she is currently scared of her fate at this time, and I'd take a proper look at her. What do your senses tell you; don't rely on your prejudices." The dragonkin guard eyed Onyxia more closely and sniffed the air.

"She is different, her scent is faint, and tinged with death, she may enter, but if she tries anything, we will not hesitate!" it said as it let them pass.

They quickly ascended the temple and reached the large open room at the summit, where Alexstrasza resided with representatives of the other dragon aspects, like the guard she greeted Onyxia with suspicion, but was friendly to Uther.

"Welcome mortal…wait…" the dragon queen said as he and Onyxia approached, the royal guards readied themselves at her pause. "There is something different about you, you reek of death, yet you live?" She pondered for a moment as Uther and Onyxia, still in her mortal guise bowed, Uther took the opportunity to look around at his situation, spotting the black dragon emissary eyeing Onyxia carefully.

"It's a very long story dragon queen. I am Lord Uther of Lordaeron, and this is Onyxia, formerly of the black dragon kin." Uther said as he stood up again, at the mention of 'formerly black dragon' the black dragon emissary stepped forward, Alexstrasza remained passive.

"Onyxia? Why has the brood-mother forsaken her father's ways, how can you be…" the emissary sniffed the air keenly, he stepped back upon reaching his conclusion. "You also reek of death, you are an abomination, and a traitor to your father, I will…"

Silence! Your place here is tenuous at best, spawn of Neltharion, do not make me cast you from this temple, be silent!" Alexstrasza roared, catching everyone off guard, the black dragon emissary shrank back, "Now then," she continued, her tone back to its soft base. "Why have you sought council with me Uther?"

"For your aid dear queen." Uther replied graciously.

"With?" Alexstrasza said playfully, enjoying how formal he was being in the slightly unusual circumstances.

"A demonic infestation on your very doorstep, that will spread if left unchecked." Uther said as he pointed south west, making the emissaries and Alexstrasza turn to look. "They are too well fortified for a frontal assault and I have the allegiance of the Nerubians, with a combined assault we could destroy the infestation before it could spread further" Uther continued, drawing the queen's attention back to him. "What do you say?"

Alexstrasxa pondered for a moment, before speaking.

"You say that you have the allegiance of the Nerubians, I was not aware that civilisation still thrived beneath this land, how did you find and gain their trust?" She asked stepping closer to him, the heat of her presence hit Uther if full force, through the strangely silent Lich, he could feel her draconic power emanating from her core.

"They found me, and as for gaining their allegiance" Uther suddenly felt nervous, he didn't know how to explain the Lich, and he also didn't know how she would react, would the dragon queen vaporize him on the spot for being an agent of it? "I'm not sure how best to explain it quickly, but they swore to help rid Northrend of the demons, I wasn't in a position to refuse" he said quickly. Alexstrasza smiled.

"Show me your sword." She said slowly, Uther tensed, before unsheathing the sword the dwarves had made for him, and handed it to her, but she stopped him.

"The other one my dear" she said in a melodic tone, Uther sheathed the dwarf's sword, and carefully unsheathed Frostmourne, but didn't hand it to her; he instead displayed it to her.

"Ah, that explains everything to me," she said in a dream-like tone.

"I beg your pardon your majesty?" Uther said confused, quickly sheathing the cursed runeblade.

"I recognise the runes, they match a gateway that lies to the North West, I know of what is trapped within, and the power it has over the dead. Having seen its influence for myself." She said, softly smiling at him.

_-Dam her!-_

"Would it be possible for you to show me this gateway?" Uther asked cautiously, noting a sideways glance from Onyxia.

"That would depend on why you wish to go there." Alexstrasza replied, her tone still melodic and kind, contrasting the power that radiated from her.

"To stop the demons from reaching it first." Uther replied quickly without thinking.

"And why would the demons be trying to get to the gateway?" She quickly responded.

"To destroy what lies within, for not aiding them in conquering this world." He said, feeling another nail in his metaphorical coffin fall into place.

"And what would happen if they destroyed it?" she said, her eyes burning through him, despite her tone and face keeping their warm demeanour.

"Me and one of my travelling companions would die, we are cursed to be bound to it, for eternity it seems" his confidence quickly returning as the queen stopped her relentless questioning to ponder again.

"What is the name of your companion?" A consort asked from Uther's left.

"Sylvanas Windrunner, a high elf of Quel'Thalas." Uther said quickly as another dragon spoke up.

"Who are these demons you speak of?" a tall man asked from Uther's right, his hair ocean blue.

"The Burning Legion." Onyxia replied, there were numerous gasps from the emissaries and guards, and Uther spotted a fire burst into life in Alexstrasza's eyes, a fire of anger and vengeance on a calm, friendly face.

"Why didn't you say it was those monsters?" She roared at him, Uther was genuinely lost for word and backed off from her advance. "Surely you of all people would know my history with those demons and their Orcish ilk!" she roared again, Uther was almost knocked back by a blast of energy from the dragon queen. A moment of extreme tension passed before she quickly regained her friendly, airy manner, "of course we'll help you" she said smiling, and reaching out to shake his hand, they shook and Alexstrasza signalled one of the guards, who nodded and jumped off the edge, only to rise moments later, as a red dragon. "My kin will follow your companions lead, and aid you in destroying those demons." She tensed as she mentioned the word 'demons'.

"Thank you dragon queen." Uther said bowing to her, she simply chuckled.

"My dear, you could have called me Alexstrasza from the moment you told me your name."

"Pardon me?" Uther said, confused by the queen's words.

"I remember your role in the last war, and more vividly the part your companion's relation played regarding my freedom, your heroism is truly inspiring, and therefore makes us equals of sorts, why ever didn't you ask to use my name?" she smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder, as she looked down on him.

"I apologise, I am too used to kings and queens that demand formalities" he said blushing slightly.

"All is forgiven." She said hugging him, he tensed up as her warmth and power overwhelmed his body. "Now then, Onyxia my dear…" Onyxia tensed at the dragon queen's use of her name, "would you kindly lead my kin to your camp, Uther will stay, unless he does not wish to go to the gateway."

"No, I still wish to go to the gateway" Uther said quickly, looking the queen in the eye as she stepped closer to Onyxia, who now gave Uther a confused look. "It'll be alright my dear; I'll be fine, go back to the camp and inform the others." Onyxia didn't speak and simply nodded, before running to the southern edge of the temple and diving off, soaring into the air in her dragon form seconds later and flying south, followed by numerous dragons from the other aspects, except black. Uther smiled at the wondrous sight.

"I wish things could be like that between our kin, working together, but Neltharion has descended into madness along with most of his kin, and Malygos' kin are reclusive, harbouring a vengeance against magic-wielding mortals, Ysera and her kin are plagued by the Emerald Nightmare, and Nozdormu has left his kin to guard the Caverns of Time. I fear things will get worse before harmony is restored to the aspects." Alexstrasza said, moving to stand beside Uther and watch the dragons flying away.

"Nothing is ever easy between kin, I have seen many cases of such conflict in my life" Uther sighed, feeling he could be honest with the dragon queen. "But they often work themselves out in the end, though as you say, not always as you would hope." Alexstrasza smiled at him.

"You are extremely knowledgable for a mortal?" She said slowly, looking at him with curiosity.

"I have lived a long, complicated and tiring life my dear, seen things many have not, and experienced events that no one should ever have to witness again." He said, letting his weariness pour out of him.

"I know" she said, making him look her in the eyes once more. "I can see the lifetime of emotions you have experienced etched on your face, and reflected in your eyes. Like you I have wondered if a long life is necessarily a better one, but to no conclusion." Uther smiled weakly. "But you know what I have learnt…" she continued.

"What?" He said, his tone tentative but weak.

"Through all experiences, good or bad, if you survive, you learn and evolve and continue on, to face each new day as it comes with the same determination. So I ask you not to give up the battle with your darker self, I order you to endure!" she said shaking him slightly, he smiled and they laughed together, stopping only when a speck appeared on the horizon.

"Back so soon?" Uther said cheerfully.

"It is not my kin that returns." Alexstrasza said slowly, as the speck grew larger.

-AN-

_Before anyone complains about the change in Onyxia's character in this chapter, please remember that she is; back from the dead, in the presence of dragons far more powerful than her and not wanting to betray or risk harm to her master Uther._


	21. Demons, Spiders and Dragons, Oh My!

Demons, Spiders and Dragons, Oh My!

_Back at the camp, half an hour after Uther and Onyxia's departure. The others are seated by the camp fire playing cards, Anub'arak watches._

"Ha, I win again!" Muradin cheer as he beats the other's hands with a full house.

"Enough games!" Anub'arak roars, making everyone jump to their feet, "the longer we linger, the stronger the demons grow."

"The spider is right," Arthas said quickly, clearly bored by Muradin's luck with the cards. "We move now!" Arthas began to move west, the others watched him sceptically.

"You want to charge against insurmountable odds without a plan?" Thrall laughed, Jaina spotted Arthas' fists clench tight.

"We have a plan, we charge the front, the Nerubians collapse the cannons from below, and the dragons burn the portal into oblivion, but we need to move." Arthas spoke quickly, the adrenaline beginning to surge, "not to mention the distance between us and them, plenty of time to talk about specifics."

"We will mobilize and do as the boy says," Anub'arak rattled before disappearing down the tunnel it had arrived through. The others sighed and followed Arthas out of the camp; they left the crew with suitable defences in place to aid protect the ship against any attacks.

"So, what exactly will the Legion do if they return?" Jaina asked the priestess, the others showing interest in the hypothetical question.

"I'd rather not think about it" Tyrande said shakily.

"But say they did, where would they strike first? What would be their goals?" Muradin asked quickly, forcing an answer from the priestess, who sighed before giving an answer.

"They would first target my people, and aim to destroy Nordrassil, the World Tree at Hyjal, cutting off our immortality." Tyrande said slowly. "From there they would seek to eradicate my people to settle our ancient feud before seeking the other races that defied them in the past."

"So the humans, high elves, dwarves and orcs basically" Jaina said summarising the point, Tyrande nodded.

"They would show no mercy to your people for your defiance in the past, and this would be carried to the other races, till Azeroth is lifeless to all except the Legion, and they would move on to ravage more worlds, never ending." Tyrande took a deep breath before composing herself. "But we will stop them here and prevent their return." There were muttered agreements from the others, and the walk continued in silence until they were in sight of the demon base, across a small bridged river and a large snowy plain.

"There's the base, now we discuss a plan!" Muradin barked, grabbing Arthas' cape to stop him from walking ahead, this made the prince snarl in frustration, and they stopped on the river's edge.

"Arthas!" Jaina yelled at the prince for his primal reaction, who withered at her ferocity.

"From what I have learnt about you all, I have a plan of attack," Thrall said, as the others gathered around him. "Arthas, Muradin and myself will be the front line, Jaina, Tyrande, Hamuul and Sylvanas will be the second line, providing cover and support, the spiders and the dragons, if they show can handle themselves, sound good?" Arthas nodded and made to move, but was grabbed by Jaina.

"We go together or not at all Arthas!" she scalded him, but this time he did not wither this time, instead fronted her.

"You dare command your prince?" he said trying to scare her, but she didn't fall before his threat.

"You're no longer prince, until you regain your honour in Terenas' eyes," Jaina said quickly, cutting his threat to pieces, and Thrall added to her defence.

"And charging blindly at the demons will not redeem you, regardless of outcome. Honour is earned through bravery, sacrifice and hard work, not fool hardy actions of so-called heroism." Thrall said moving to Jaina's side. Their dispute was interrupted by a roar from above; they looked up to see Onyxia and numerous dragons swooping down to them, she landed and transformed, as did the others dragons, their forms varied between elf and human, but their aspect was represented by their hair and eye colour, Onyxia stepped forward to join them.

"Did I miss anything?" She said playfully.

"What took you?" Arthas said, shifting his anger from Jaina to Onyxia, but the dragon was not scared by the upstart boy.

"Had a little trouble with my previous allegiance, but I arrived in time." Onyxia said proudly, ignoring the former prince's attempts to put her in her place.

"Where is Uther?" Jaina asked, noting the Paladin's absence.

"He stayed behind; there was another matter that requires his personal attention." Onyxia said, her eyes meeting Jaina's, who understood immediately.

"What?" Sylvanas blurted, "What matter?" Onyxia looked around nervously.

"The dragon queen said she'd show him the Lich's gateway, the basis of his power." Sylvanas' eyes glinted, a flash of predatory opportunity dawning in her mind.

"Onyxia my dear" she said slowly, "please take me to him, I think I should be with him, if he's going to end it himself, we're bound by that monster, and I'd like to be there." Onyxia hesitated before nodding.

"What about us?" Jaina asked as Sylvanas lead Onyxia away from the others.

"You've got the dragons to help, and the Nerubians, that should be enough with the six of you, you'll be fine." Sylvanas said dismissively as Onyxia transformed, Sylvanas leapt on her back as Onyxia took off to the north east.

"You lot follow us, provide aerial support and focus fire on the portal at the heart of their base!" Muradin yelled at the disguised dragons, pointing at the camp ahead of them, the lead tilted his head before nodding and transforming and flying straight up into the air, followed by the others, till they were above the clouds and out of sight.

"Now let's move!" Arthas ordered, unsheathing his mace and jogging across the bridge, Muradin and Thrall followed close behind, with the Jaina, Hamuul and Tyrande bringing up the rear. As they came within range of the cannons again, they saw the demons moving to arm them.

"Anytime mow would be good" Arthas yelled as he saw the cannons preparing to fire, but the shots missed at the last second, the ground collapsing beneath them, the cannon balls flying safely above their heads, and they increased their pace, as a small trench opened along the line where the cannons had been. The demons readied a second line as Arthas, Thrall leapt across the trench and engaged them, Hamuul and Tyrande following close behind and covering their flanks, Muradin skidded to a halt on the trench lip, Jaina stopped behind him.

"Something wrong?" Jaina said innocently, but she knew what was bothering him.

"I don't think I could jump this?" he said deflated as he watched the others in the heat of battle.

"Need a hand?" Jaina said quickly, Muradin wheeled on her.

"Nobody tosses a dwarf!" he almost bellowed at her.

"I wasn't suggesting it" Jaina said coyly, "I don't think I could lift you" she joked and he chuckled, "just jump and I'll give you a little push."

"Alright lassie." He said nervously, he walked back the way he had come to give it a run up, before charging at the trench and jumping at the last second, he felt a strong gust of energy push him the rest of the way as he began to fall and he landed on his feet and charged into the fray. Jaina smiled warmly and sent a fireball straight up before floating effortlessly across the trench and joining the others as Nerubians crawled out of the trench on either side of them and engaged the demonic army.

"They just keep coming!" Thrall grunted as he saw more and more demons pouring out of the portal, straight into the fight with them.

"Why are you complaining?" Muradin chuckled as he sliced through two demons with one blow. "Getting tired?" Thrall laughed, but their dilemma was solved seconds later as the dragons dived from the clouds and jets of fire struck the portal's power crystal, it exploded with the heat and the fire burned into the portal, destroying it completely, leaving a charred metal ruin. The dragons soared over their heads and back above the clouds.

"Press forward, they're trapped now!" Tyrande yelled, the others obeyed and quickly emptied the camp of all demons.

"We did it!" Arthas said proudly as he surveyed the slaughtered camp. "We can return to base job com…" he was interrupted by a small burst of fire behind him, he wheeled around to see another dreadlord standing before them.

"Not yet young one!" it said proudly.

"What do you mean, your camp is in ruins, and your reinforcements are trapped in the hell you come from." Muradin said pointing at the innumerable dead demons covering the ground and the smoking portal.

"But your precious 'Lightbringer' is trapped and outnumbered, he and his elf will die, and we will return to see this world burn!" it said grinning at their panicked faces.

"Who are you and how are you so sure they have lost?" Jaina yelled at the demon.

"Oh my, I've forgotten my manners; I am Varimathras, brother to Balnazzar and Detheroc, lieutenant to the great Archimonde." It said bowing, "and I know they are doomed because they face another force, much larger than this, and they do not have the reinforcements you do, goodbye." Varimathras vanished in a cloud of flame, leaving them alone as Anub'arak surfaced momentarily.

"We heard, we will aid him." It said before disappearing again as the dragons swooped down, the lead landing and transforming.

"Are we finished here?" it asked in a rather indignant tone.

"Not quite." Tyrande said softly stepping forward, the elven dragon tilted his head confused.

"Do you know where the queen has taken our companion?" Hamuul asked, there was a brief hesitation before the dragonkin nodded.

"We would like you to take us there; he's in trouble, demon trouble." Jaina said, another pause before the dragon transformed and roared upward, five other dragons soared down from the circling group and landed, they each mounted a dragon and held off as they took off, flying directly north.

"Let us hope we are not too late to help!" Arthas yelled as they rose through the clouds.

-AN-

_I apologise for the 'Nobody tosses a dwarf' line from LotR, it was too good an opportunity to miss._


	22. Icecrown Showdown

Icecrown Showdown.

"Guards!" Alexstrasza roared, and several large red dragons flew up and hovered in front of the temple as the speck grew larger.

Something clicked in Uther's mind and he quickly lowered the queen's arm as she was about to signal for the guards to attack.

"Alexstrasza wait!" he said quickly, the queen looked quizzically. "It's Onyxia, she's got my companion Sylvanas with her, I thought she'd refuse to let me go alone." The queen held her quizzical gaze for a moment before dismissing the guards, Onyxia flew up to the edge of the temple and Sylvanas leapt off her back and stood before Uther and Alexstrasza.

"Go back to the others!" Sylvanas yelled to Onyxia, who nodded and flew off, back the way she had come.

"I had a feeling you'd come" Uther chuckled, Sylvanas blushed slightly before bowing to the dragon queen.

"Sorry for the security scare oh queen, I am…" She said slowly but Alexstrasza stopped her.

"I know who you are, Uther told me your name, and your face confirms it, you look very much like your sister." Alexstrasza smiled.

"You knew my sister?" Sylvanas said confused.

"She was one of the people who helped Ronin free me from Grim Batol, which is not something I would forget in a hurry" Alexstrasza smiled again, but her hand ran over her arm, where a faint scar lay.

"You're the Red dragon she freed?" Alexstrasza!" Sylvanas said surprised.

"Who else," Alexstrasza laughed, and she hugged Sylvanas, who simply stayed motionless in the dragon queen's tight embrace, the queen let her down gently and added, "You may call me Alexstrasza, my dear."

"There'll be time for informal chat later, we have to move!" Uther said, cutting into the women's friendly chat.

"You sound like Arthas when we left the camp, Uther was taken aback by the comment, Alexstrasza gently moved between them and elegantly dived off the temple, Uther and Sylvanas watched her roll in mid-air before transforming into her natural form, which to their surprise was far larger than any of the other kin, as Alexstrasza turned and soared back toward them, Uther patted Sylvanas on the back and jumped, Sylvanas followed suit and they landed on the queen's back seconds later as she flew north west.

"How can you compare me to Arthas?" Uther asked Sylvanas as the temple faded from sight behind them.

"It was spur of the moment, and you were very much like him in that gung ho attitude" Sylvanas replied curtly.

"I wanted to move as the longer we wait, the more likely the demons will beat us there!" Uther said quickly, Sylvanas chuckled.

"Not to dissimilar to the reason he gave" she replied.

"I want to move because our lives are on the line my dear, not for some vein hop of restoring my status in my friends and family's eyes; we are not alike and have not been for as long as I've known him, which is most of his life." Uther said defensively, Sylvanas did not offer a reply as the land below them rose into mountains of rock and ice.

"I shall drop you off at the gate, if you need my aid again, use this" Alexstrasza growled as a small pendant appeared in Uther's hand, he tightened his grip on the dragon queen with one hand and put the pendant around his neck with the other, shortly before Alexstrasza dived toward the ground, the target gateway appearing on the side of a large mountain of ice, Sylvanas and Uther dived from the dragon queen's back when she was low enough, landing in a snow bank as she soared into the sky and out of sight.

"So this is the Lich's base of power" Sylvanas said after she got up, and had wandered closer to the closed gate.

"_-Yes. And you will suffer if you dare try to enter-"_ The Lich yelled through Uther as he stood up an dusted himself off.

"Uther!" Sylvanas yelled back, running over as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry my dear, I fear that because we are at the place where he is strongest, his hold is increased." Uther said slowly, looking around at the featureless horizon, dominated by identical snow drifts and ice covered walls of rock.

"Well I think we beat the demons here," Sylvanas said happily, looking around to look for their adversary.

"They work for whatever commands the Lich, and probably imprisoned it here, they could easily appear inside and kill him without our interference, we don't know…" Uther said grimly, but he was interrupted by a small burst of fire to his right, they turned and saw a familiar dreadlord walking toward them.

"On the contrary 'Lightbringer', because it is a prison of sorts, it is enchanted to stop anyone getting in or out" the Dreadlord that had been at their camp said slowly, "but it makes little difference, you will not stop us."

"Let's be civil about this, you clearly know us, but we do not you, is it not customary to know the name of our 'conquerors'?" Uther said grinning.

"I am Balnazzar, and are you admitting defeat?" it asked, curious to Uther's actions.

"Oh no, this was merely a distraction" Uther chuckled.

"There is no dragon here to vaporize me, how do you…argh!" Balnazzar screamed as an arrow pierced its throat, and then exploded into dust.

"Good work my dear," Uther smiled at Sylvanas who had crept around Balnazzar whilst he was boasting, Sylvanas bowed as Uther applauded her achievement, but their good mood was interrupted by a demonic roar to the north, they turned to see hundreds of demons, stretching into the distance, marching toward them.

"Defend the gateway" Uther ordered, unsheathing his swords and summoning the ghosts as they backed against the gateway, Uther now felt the power he wielded over the ghosts grow, and shivered as dark thoughts crept into his mind. He took a step forward as the demons charged them, their demonic weaponry clashing with the ghosts, but not managing to kill them again. Uther and Sylvanas held the middle ground of the defensive line, the ghosts flanking them in front of the gateway, slicing through wave after wave of demons.

"Where are they coming from?" Sylvanas yelled as she ran out of arrows, she sheathed her bow and withdrew her daggers before resuming combat.

"I do not think they are coming through a portal" Uther replied as he sent a gold and black shockwave into a fresh row of demons, hurling them into the demons behind them, "I get the feeling they were waiting for us to show up."

"What makes you say that?" Sylvanas yelled as she leapt over the collapsed wave and spun around in the next one, cutting numerous demon throats effortlessly.

"They are too well organised, they clearly had time to prepare, if they were fresh from whatever hellhole they come from, they wouldn't be in such a rigid formation." Uther said as he charged forward to join Sylvanas, the ghosts moving up on either side. "Also, I get the feeling they wanted us here, to get revenge for the demon Onyxia killed in Stormwind."

"Good points my lord!" Sylvanas replied, slicing through more demons, and grabbing arrows from the fallen when she had the chance. They continued in silence, battling endless waves of identical demons.

"I…I can't continue much longer" Sylvanas said exhausted, Uther moved closer to her and held her under the shoulder, pulling her back from the front line, the ghosts covering this fall back, as the demons seemed to press forward, evidentially sensing weakness. Uther rested Sylvanas against the ice wall and looked at the gateway.

"Do something you useless 'king'!" Uther yelled at the gateway in frustration.

_-I have 'Lightbringer'-_

"What? What have you done?" Uther yelled again, looking around in desperation as the ghosts seemed to be backing toward them.

_-Here they come.-_

"They?" Sylvanas said weakly, hearing the voice as well, her question was answered seconds later as a swarm of undead zombies slammed into the demon column from the east and on the west the ground opened and Nerubians swarmed the other demon flank, Uther collapsed against the wall, next to Sylvanas as the two new forces dealt with the demons for them.

"Don't think I'm going to thank you for this." Uther muttered to the voice, which laughed.

_-That wouldn't be like you, though I expect you to leave when they are done, or these forces I command will turn against you!-_

It took a few minutes for the undead and the Nerubians to mop up the last of the demons, the two forces then merged in the area where the demons had first met Sylvanas and Uther's defence, their eyes fixed on the two of them, watching them closely.

"What now?" Sylvanas whispered to Uther as they slowly stood up, still exhausted from their fight.

"_-You leave Northrend and never return!-"_The Lich replied through Uther. They took a step forward and the mass before them took a combined step closer to them.

"And if we refuse?" Sylvanas asked cautiously.

"We kill you!" a Nerubian said from the mass before them in a cruel hiss. Uther felt something shift in the air, combined with an emotional surge within him and he smiled proudly.

"Then try!" Uther yelled, placing both swords together and stabbing them both into the ground with all his might, the most powerful shockwave he had yet cast erupted from the ground and flung the mass back a few feet and shattered the gateway, the Lich roared with anger in his head.

_-How dare you defy me! What foolish hope do you have of succeeding?-_

_I don't need to survive to stop you, I'll die before I let you survive another day! _Uther replied in his head as he and Sylvanas charged through the gateway, as they heard several dragon roars above them, and felt a surge of hear behind them, Uther wheeled around to see the front line of Nerubians and undead turned to ash under the dragon fire. Moments later Jaina, Thrall, Hamuul, Tyrande, Muradin and Arthas dropped down from above and dashed into the mountain to join Uther and Sylvanas, they quickly greeted each other before they ran up the icy ramp, hearing the ground rumble below them.

"No matter what happens!" Uther yelled into the mountain, "The Lich King dies tonight!" The others cheered and they continued running, the echo behind them growing louder and louder.


	23. The Frozen Throne

The Frozen Throne.

Uther lead the charge further into the hollow mountain, his light-infused sword in hand and Frostmourne strapped to his back, with the others close behind, Jaina and Hamuul slowing the undead or Nerubians who came close to catching them. As the mountain seemed to grow darker Uther's sword glowed and lit the way as they found the path narrow and begin to spiral up a central column of ice, where their progress was impeded by numerous Nerubians who climbed up and blocked their path.

"Stay close, we are getting closer, I can feel it!" Uther yelled as he blasted a wall of holy energy ahead of him, vaporizing the Nerubians in his path as they continued to climb.

_-Turn back and you may yet live, continue and you will serve me in death for eternity!- _it yelled at his mind, Uther ignored it as he felt the power growing, and knew he was close. Sure enough they rounded the crest and found a relatively large icy plateau, at the far end there was a small set of steps before a large shard of ice, inside lay a cruel looking full-face crown, which Uther felt was the primary source of the Lich's power, secondary being Frostmourne.

"Defend this position!" Uther yelled and the others spread out as he took several steps closer to the entombed crown. Before he could make another move toward the crown the Nerubians surged over the crest of the plateau on all sides and the undead quickly poured up the ramp they had used.

"Stand your ground!" Muradin yelled as they engaged the oncoming swarm, Uther cursed under his breath and withdrew Frostmourne and plunged it into the ice, the ghosts appeared before him, looking at the ensuing battle before staring at him.

"What do you wish of us my lord?" Franclorn asked Uther, who grimaced.

"This order is non-negotiable or refutable, I order you to leave the blade and be at peace, and the Lich's reign is at an end!" Uther said boldly to the ghosts who looked mortified.

"My lord you can't do this, we want to serve, we do not wish to rest." Doom'rel said panicked by Uther's words.

"I'm not giving you a choice, I'm destroying the sword and the power behind it today, if you don't leave I do not know that you will be at peace, I…" Uther said sombrely, but the voice interrupted.

_"-They are bound to the blade fool, they cannot leave willingly or not!-_"

"Then Light forgive them!" Uther said and raised his sword, the voice screamed as Uther moved to cleave through Frostmourne in one fluid motion, but the cursed blade blade had other ideas, it moved of its own accord out of the way of Uther's strike, Uther looked at it bewildered and the voice laughed as the ghosts moved to hover over the edge of the plateau, watching the continuing chaos.

"_-Did you really think it would be so easy to defeat me?-_" The blade said with the Lich's voice, and the Deathbringer appeared from the entombed helmet, the ghostly apparition raised its arms and Frostmourne flew into its grip, and its armour materialised into dull grey metal on its ghostly form.

"_-You're not the only one who can weild the other's powers for their own use, now die!-_" the Deathbringer roared as it engaged Uther in combat, their swords clashed, sending holy and unholy shockwaves outward, though not powerful to affect the undead or living, who continued to fight around them.

The undead that swarmed up the pinnacle in droves were quickly cut down by the heroes, the Deathbringer noted this and spoke, his voice echoing in the cavern, and from the deathly power it had.

"_Back my minions! I will destroy them myself!-_" The undead droves stopped their climb and waited, those unlucky to be on the pinnacle when the order was given, were left confused as they were quickly destroyed. The heroes then wheeled on the Deathbringer, attacking him from all sides, but he managed to hold his own against their overwhelming numbers.

"_-Pathetic!-" _The Deathbringer roared after what felt like hours of stalemate fighting, his bellowing rage sent most of the heroes flying backwards away from it, leaving only Uther and Sylvanas standing, as the undead rushed the other companions.

"Getting tired?" Sylvanas joked and the Deathbringer responded by swinging Frostmourne at her head, Uter blocked it with his sword as the others engaged the swarm as it climbed over the edge of the plateau in waves.

"_-I do not tire, I have existed for centuries without faultering, but your incessant meddling means that those infinitely greater than you will forever make me suffer for what you did! I am forever cursed to remember your existence!-"_

"Such a shame, we barely got to know each other!" Sylvanas joked again as she slashed through the Deathbringer's hand, releasing Frostmourne, which clattered to the ground. The Deathbringer roared in pain and anger and tried to grab Frostmourne again with its other hand, Sylvanas tackled him and Uther swung his sword down on the cursed runeblade, focusing his holy power into the blade as it struck.

Frostmourne exploded with the contact and the Deathbringer roared again as it faded away. The ghosts of the mountain changed shape into opaque white spheres that floated into the sky as the destroyed blade lay in pieces at Uther's feet. Suddenly he felt a tugging pain inside him and he collapsed, hearing Sylvanas do the same; he looked up and saw undead swarming over her.

"Someone cover her!" Arthas yelled and Jaina obliged, sending a wall of arcane energy hurtling towards Sylvanas, it blasted the undead off her like a bowling ball, and Uther saw one of the ghosts float into Sylvanas, she immediately stood up and re-engaged the undead, who retreated at seeing the 'servants' of their master freed from its grip.

_-Curse you Lightbringer, curse you Elf, curse your wretched existences!- _Uther felt life enter him and he stood up, he smiled and kicked the hilt of Frostmourne off the plateau, much to the screams of hatred from the Lich, the undead onslaught faltered and then retreated.

"It's not over!" Uther yelled, pointing at the entombed crown as the others celebrated, "we still have to destroy that!"

"What are we waiting for?" Muradin said stepping closer to the ice, but then collapsed in pain.

_-Only those chosen may approach me!- _The Lich chuckled in his head and Uther growled and charged at the ice, passing the recovering dwarf. In one fluid motion, Uther raised and struck the ice with his sword, the ice exploded upon the contact and the crown clattered down the steps and lay in the center of the group, Uther marched slowly back toward the others, staring at the defenceless crown that symbolised all that was left of the Lich King.

_" -If you destroy me then the undead, Nerubians and Vrykul will be unleashed upon Azeroth, with nothing holding them back!-"_ The Lich yelled through Sylvanas, catching everyone off guard, as there was a burst of flame from behind her, they all turned to face Varimathras.

"Well done 'Lightbringer' you have done exactly as I anticipated," it said smiling. "Now if you would give me the crown and I'll make sure it suffers for its crimes!" Varimathras continued, his voice deepening and becoming more threatening, as Uther picked up the crown, feeling his fingers warm at its touch, resisting its dark influence.

"Never!" Uther said holding the crown closer to him, Varimathras laughed, it echoed in the vast, hollow mountain.

"You don't have much of a choice." It said chuckling. "Refuse and I leave you to die at its hands, accept and I will transport you to your base, and you can return home safely, it's a simple choice of life or death for you."

Uther nodded subtly and asked "what happens to the Lich's forces if I give this to you?"

"They'll be dealt with in due course, I can assure you of that. But they would not be a threat without a commander." Varimathras said smiling cruelly at them.

"We just heard that without a leader, they'll descend upon Azeroth like a swarm." Thrall said quickly, countermanding the demon's statement.

"It'll say anything to survive, where is the proof of these claims?" The demon chuckled looking around.

"I am the proof!" Uther said gaining the dreadlord's attention, "since I killed Mal'Ganis, the undead threat had evaporated, until I turned against the Lich, when they returned to the role of threatening our lives!" Before the demon could utter another snide reply, Arthas knocked the demon out with his mace and Hamuul quickly summoned roots to hold the demon down.

"It will not hold for long, I suggest we depart soon." Hamuul said quickly as the others admired his handiwork. Uther turned and placed the crown on the steps, he raised his sword to strike, to finish it once and for all, but the onslaught returned in force, with Anub'arak and its Nerubians swarming out of the darkness, Uther cursed and grabbed the crown with one hand, engaging the Nerubian king with his sword hand.

"You dare to betray our master!" Anub'arak hissed angrily.

"It never commanded me entirely; I am not a pawn for it to play with!" Uther replied, slashing off its front legs as Sylvanas leapt on its back and fired a demon blood-infused arrow straight into its brain before back-flipping back into combat with the undead. Anub'arak roared in pain and flailed wildly, Jaina used another arcane blast to send the dying insect flying off the plateau, into the nothingness below, his death demoralised the Nerubians who retreated.

"Uther end this!" Tyrande yelled as she cast healing spells on the others, who were beginning to struggle with the onslaught.

"Wait!" Arthas yelled, breaking off from combat to confront Uther, Muradin and Thrall were forced to take the slack.

"What are you doing?" Uther exclaimed as Arthas approached him.

"Helping." Arthas said innocently, "Let me wear the crown, I'll take control of the Lich's forces and keep all our peoples safe."

"Have you lost your mind?" Uther yelled at him, "I have barely managed to combat its evil, you wouldn't stand a chance, you'd fall and the Lich would finally have his intended champion."

"But without the sword he's powerless right?" Arthas pressed on.

"No its not boy!" Sylvanas said momentarily looking over her shoulder, before resuming her fight with the undead.

"Its still got most of its strength, forget this poisonous dream and help defend me whilst I end this!" Uther said loudly, Arthas shook his head.

"I can fight it, I will not let it control me, I promise! If i dont they will swarm over Azeroth, you said so yourself, i can stop them, hold them back from leaving Northrend!" Arthas said desperately.

"Arthas, No!" Jaina exclaimed, sending an arcane shockwave in all directions, blasting the undead completely off the plateau, as half-giant sized undead charged up the ramp. "Don't do this!" she said moving to Arthas' side as Muradin and Thrall confronted the new challenge head on.

"Why do you care about me again all of a sudden?" Arthas said furiously turning on Jaina, who looked longingly into his eyes, "You said you gave up on me!"

"I wasn't thinking straight; I was so upset with what you did at Stratholme that I let those emotions cloud my feelings" Jaina said taking a step closer as Uther moved away.

"So you do care?" Arthas asked curiously, looking into Jaina's eyes as Uther placed the crown on the ground again.

"I've always cared," Jaina said cupping Arthas' cheek in her hand, as Uther raised his sword to strike, Arthas spotted it and moved quickly, raising his mace to block Uther's strike, but Jaina moved as well, swinging her staff into the back of Arthas' head, knocking him out. "And that's why I cant let you do that!" she said resolutely to the unconscious Arthas, Uther hesitated and looked at her confused, "end this!" she said with tears in her eyes, and she re-joined the fight with the Vrykul undead.

_-I will not be defeated so easily, I curse you to never rest until this world burns, you and your Elvish wench shall never know peace until you burn for what you did to me!- _It roared as Uther struck the crown, cleaving it in two.

Dark energy poured from the crown as well as a shockwave that only hit him and Sylvanas, knocking them to the ground. Uther began black out as the voice died in his head, his hearing faded out as he heard someone move to cover him, before the darkness enveloped him whole.

"Curses, we're down three fighters and the undead are coming back in full force" Muradin exclaimed looking at the scene before them, "What do we do?"

"Cover Arthas, Uther and Sylvanas, hold your ground!" Tyrande yelled as the undead swarmed up the ramp.

"The…pendant, Uther's…neck." Sylvanas muttered weakly, Tyrande looked at Sylvanas as she passed out, before scurrying to Uther's unconscious form, finding the aforementioned pendant and holding it in her hand, she felt it warm to her touch after a moment, before it went cold, she quickly put it on and then cast shields on the unconscious three.

"We just have to hold out a little longer, I feel that help is on the way!" Tyrande yelled to the weary defenders, Thrall roared and began smashing the undead down with increased ferocity.

"How can you be sure?" Jaina said, igniting several undead with a pyro blast.

"Call it an immortal's intuition my dear." Tyrande said smiling, as she felt the pendant slowly growing warm again.

After several tense minutes of fighting, Tyrande felt the pendant reach peak heat and looked up as the ice roof evaporated above them, warm light burst into the mountain as dragons swooped over their heads, burning away the top of the mountain and the undead that swarmed below them.

"Take cover!" Muradin roared as a large red dragon swooped low toward them, they dived to the ground as the dragon flew low over them and grabbed Uther and Sylvanas' unconscious forms in its claws before banking and quickly flying away, followed by a smaller dragon that picked up Arthas. Suddenly the remaining felt the plateau shift.

"The heat has melted the base, we must leave now!" Hamuul bellowed as the dragons continued setting the undead ablaze.

Thrall ran over to Muradin and took one of his throwing axes, then ran over to the still unconscious Varimathras and used it to behead the demon. Thrall chuckled menacingly as he bent down, picking up the severed head and then diving off the edge, to be picked up seconds later by a dragon.

"Guess he wanted a memento!" Tyrande said, she followed Thrall's lead and jumped from the shifting plateau, to be picked up by a dragon, and the others did the same until it was just Jaina and Hamuul left.

"Earthmother watch over us!" Hamuul said as he transformed into a bird and flew off after the dragons.

Suddenly the pinnacle cracked and the plateau began to tip violently, Jaina was thrown to the ground as it reached an almost horizontal angle and began falling, Jaina screamed and covered her eyes as she began to free-fall toward the vast lake that had formed from the fiery heat.


	24. A New Dawn

A New Dawn.

Just when she felt herself beyond saving something grabbed her body and stopped her fall, only when she felt cool air rushing through her hair did she open her eyes.

"Sorry about my timing!" Onyxia roared cheerfully as the melted mountain merged with the horizon behind her, making Jaina relaxed in her grip, Onyxia flipped in mid-flight and Jaina landed on her back, and the former brood-mother soon caught up with the other dragons.

"No problem," Jaina replied patting Onyxia's scaly neck, "I'm glad I didn't fall into the water, so your timing was perfect." Onyxia purred affectionately. "Why weren't you affected when Uther destroyed the Lich King?"

"I was affected but only momentarily, I'm more connected to Uther, who is clearly still alive." Onyxia replied as she managed to draw level with the dragon carrying Uther and Sylvanas.

"Who is that carrying them?" Jaina asked Onyxia.

"It's the dragon queen herself, Alexstrasza." Onyxia roared as they neared the temple, "she wanted to personally rescue them, who were we to refuse her."

Alexstrasza roared loudly and they slowed their velocity as they arrived at the temple, Alexstrasza swooped toward her floor and transformed mid-air and landed gracefully on the balcony, two consorts cast spells and softened the landings of the unconscious heroes, as the others were dropped off by their dragons on the same landing platform, Onyxia also performed a mid-air transformation, though she didn't land as gracefully as the queen, Jaina cast a spell as she fell and it slowed her descent, so she landed on her feet. Everyone rushed to Uther and Sylvanas once they were landed, only to be pushed aside by Alexstrasza.

"I bless them with the breath of the lifebinder!" she chanted, kneeling over them as flowers grew from the floor around Uther and Sylvanas, moments past in silence before they finally awoke.

"Is it over?" Sylvanas asked groggily sitting up.

"It's over, the Lich is dead and you are free from his grip" Jaina said helping Sylvanas to her feet as Uther sat up.

"I fear things are not as perfect as you think," Uther said grimly as he rubbed his head.

"What do you mean?" Hamuul asked cautiously.

"Before it died, and we blacked out, it cursed us to never rest until we 'burn for what we did'." Uther said slowly, he was then helped up by Sylvanas. "That and now you have undead, Nerubians and some Vrykul that are leaderless and will attack without restraint."

"We'll make sure they don't leave this land." The queen's consort said proudly, Uther smiled weakly.

"What does this mean for us?" Sylvanas asked Uther.

"I fear that we cannot die until the world ends, I'm sorry my dear." Uther said sadly, hugging Sylvanas tightly and she reciprocated the feeling.

"That doesn't matter to me my lord, though my people are blessed with long life, I accepted the prospect of immortality with you soon after we escaped my people's wrath. So I must thank you for saving me from that." Without warning she kissed Uther on the lips briefly, though it was enough to make the others chuckle, and Uther to blush. "One question remains," she said bringing the conversation back, "where will we go?"

"My dears you are welcome to stay here at the temple," Alexstrasza said softly as she stepped forward. "After all you have done, and all you've achieved, I should think retirement, or at least a break from the hardship would be ideal." Uther and Sylvanas looked at each other before giving their reply.

"We'll think about it" they said in unison, before bursting into laughter.

"What about him?" Thrall said, harshly kicking Arthas back to consciousness.

"He goes back to his father, with word that he tried to seize its power when I was about to destroy it." Uther said sternly as Arthas opened his eyes and quickly stood up.

"What happened?" he asked quickly looking around.

"Uther destroyed the Lich King and we were rescued by Alexstrasza and her kin," Jaina said cheerily looking at him, but Arthas' face remained stern.

"But the undead will…" he started but Alexstrasza interrupted.

"Will be dealt with by us, do no need to worry little one." She said in a melodic tone, Arthas tensed slightly before extending a hand to Uther who shook it, Arthas then walked over and sat on the ledge furthest from them, Jaina sighed and walked over to talk with him.

"What happens now?" Thrall asked, looking at each of the other companions.

"We all return home to a much safer world" Tyrande said smiling broadly.

"I meant about the bonds we have formed on this quest, do we maintain these peaceful relations between our people, or do we depart as we met, strangers" Thrall asked, it was met with a moment of silence before Sylvanas spoke.

"Well I can't speak for my people, but you can, I think we should maintain these relations for your future prosperity," Sylvanas eyed each of them quickly, judging their reactions, most seemed to like the idea.

"We form an official alliance between the Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Night Elves, Orcs, Tauren…" Uther said proudly before Thrall amended his list.

"And the Darkspear Trolls, they were unable to send aid, as they had their own trouble to deal with" Thrall added quickly.

"…and Darkspear Trolls, we'll call it The Grand Alliance." Uther said proudly, but Sylvanas giggled.

"Sounds unoriginal my lord" she chuckled, "The Azeroth Alliance sounds better, and makes it seem more powerful to outsiders, especially my people." There was another odd glint in her eyes.

"I agree with her" were the other companions general reaction, Uther sighed with the majority as Alexstrasza spoke up.

"Though it would be dangerous for this to be made formal, the Wyrmrest Accord will be on friendly terms with the Azeroth Alliance, any official alliance is out of the question with my brothers still posing a threat, the formal tie would put your people in further danger." She said sombrely, Uther nodded.

"That settles it, the aforementioned races are bound together, by the bonds formed in this quest." Uther said formally, "With the dragon queen as witness, I officially declare the Azeroth Alliance as active from this moment forward!" He stretched his arm into the middle of the group and the others put their hands one on top of the other, before they broke and cheered at the official unity.

"A new future dawns for this world, a hopeful and prosperous one for all" Alexstrasza said proudly as everyone except Uther and Sylvanas mounted dragons and flew off, back to their ship. "One that glistens with potential for more brave heroic acts from the mortal races. And we shall bear witness to it shine." She rested her hands on their shoulders as they stood either side of her and watched the six dragons fly off into the distance, as the sun rose higher in the sky.

The End.


	25. Trouble on the Horizon

Uther woke a frenzy of activity outside his room, dragonkin and mortals who he knew to be dragons in disguise were running around, clearly panicked about something big, as no one stopped to inform him of what was happening. He quickly found Sylvanas sitting on the edge of interior walkways, seemingly in a daydream.

The two of them ran up a large circular set of stairs that lead to Alexstrasza's throne room, where they found the queen standing alone, looking over the glass globe that floated at the centre of the room as they approached Onyxia flew in behind them and transformed, then stood on Uther's right.

"What's wrong Alexstrasza?" Uther asked the queen, who turned and looked at them, a look of fear on her face.

"The family's coming round." She said coldly, "and they're coming to stay!"

Uther, Sylvanas, Onyxia and Alexstrasza watched the globe carefully as four areas on the landmasses glowed different colours; green, bronze, blue and black, with a fifth glowing not as fierce in vivid red.

"Its a war between the Aspects, with all other races caught in the crossfire." Uther said grimly, Alexstrasza nodded, and looked out on the darkening horizon.

"The war of the Dragon Aspects has begun!" she said as the sun faded on the horizon, "and the world will never be the same again!"

Coming Soon...

Uther and The War of the Dragon Aspects.


End file.
